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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => ADJUNCT - Rennet Surface White Mold (Penicillium candidum) Ripened => Topic started by: sarak on January 12, 2014, 05:39:26 PM

Title: camembert using goat milk
Post by: sarak on January 12, 2014, 05:39:26 PM
OK, yesterday I took the plunge and despite a recent disastrous foray out of my chevre-and-cheddar comfort zone with feta, I decided I would take advantage of a Saturday and try making my first camembert.  I pretty much combined the recipe for cam from New England cheesemaking with the "washed curd, stabilized paste bloomy rind" recipe from Cowgirl creamery in Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking. 

Briefly, my hybrid recipe went like this:
1 gallon pasteurized goat milk (courtesy of our Nigerian Dwarf Goat, Nefi)
0.2 gram Flora Danica
1/8 tsp calf rennet (diluted in 1/8c H2O)
1/4 tsp calcium chloride (diluted in 1/8c H20)
about 1/16 tasp p candidum
the tiniest bit geotrichum

after adding cultures, I let the milk ripen for about 30 min.  Then added the calcium chloride, then in five minutes the rennet.  After waiting 90 min, the pH reading from my new-and-not-quite-trusted-by-me-even-though-I-calibrated-it was 6.5. (which is essentially what it was prior to the rennet and calcium chloride). 

Hmmm, I thought.  This may not be a good sign.

I cute the curds into about 3/4 inch, let it rest for 10 min, stir GENTLY, rest 10 min, stir and rest 5 min.  Then the forms.  Even though I cut and stirred to release some of the whey, there was still a lot of curds!  I used 2 4-inch cam mold and  put some overflow into a smaller goat cheese mold which became my "tester" sample.  I used bamboo mats and a metal rack over a cookie sheet to catch the whey.  I turned the curds after 1 hr, then again twice in about the next 3 hrs.  The first turn looked messy on one of them (dammit!  I forgot the molds were open at both ends!), but by the last turns they both looked very respectable.

After another 8 or 9 hrs at 73 to 75F, I turned them again and checked the pH.  It was about 5.15.  This is where my questions come in:

The pH is not quite as low as I expected (I expected closer to 5.0) - does this have anything to do with the goat milk?  Or is this common and I should just let them drain longer (they seem pretty well-drained now)
The curds didn't shrink as much as I thought they would - they are only at 1/2 or a little over 1/2 of the original height.  I am hoping this is just because they released some whey in the pot with stirring.  However, this still seems like a very generous yield for one gallon of milk.  I know Nigerian dwarfs have a very high butterfat level - about 6.3% compared to about 4.7 in jersey cows. And the separation of the whey was beautiful, but it still seemed almost too good to be true.   The height of the cams is about 2.5 inches.

Then, when I un-molded the cams (pH got to 5.06 after another hour) - I saw big gaps in the side of the cams - some craters even.  The tops and bottoms looked beautiful, but the sides looked pretty bad, with some craters even.  For some reason I am having a hard time uploading a photo, but I'll try again later.

WHAT DO I DO??????
Title: Re: camembert using goat milk
Post by: linuxboy on January 12, 2014, 05:50:42 PM
Quote
does this have anything to do with the goat milk?
A little. Higher casein count in the milk means it buffers more acid. Compensate by using more starter or a starter that's faster than FD. FD doesn't work that well by itself in this recipe, it's too slow to start and then lags in acid production later (as you saw firsthand). Also, the recipe is for a stabilized paste, which requires using some (or all, depending on the stabilization required) Streptococcus and salting when ph is around 5.0. That's the classic stabilized approach, anyway. For semi-stabilized, can drain longer or use all classic meso cultures.

Quote
but it still seemed almost too good to be true.
Pretty standard for ND milk.

Quote
WHAT DO I DO??????
Finish the make and age them out. You'll be fine. Runniness/gooeyness will be rather low, more like a double creme.
Title: Re: camembert using goat milk
Post by: sarak on January 12, 2014, 10:31:37 PM
Thank you linuxboy!  That is EXTREMELY helpful information.  I salted the surfaces and put in about 63F room (I was running out of the house and didn't have the time to think about it.  I'll wait with fingers crossed. 
Title: Re: camembert using goat milk
Post by: linuxboy on January 13, 2014, 12:48:24 AM
Yep, sometimes the best thing to do is sit with a power pose like everything is great and keep at it.

(http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/050/956/3328844488_63c98eb81a.jpg)
Title: Re: camembert using goat milk
Post by: sarak on January 21, 2014, 02:04:27 AM
Firstly, since watching the season premier of Sherlock last night, all I seem to be doing is faking a British accent (in my head, at least), so timely advice, Linuxboy.  ;)

UPDATE:

Well, my little ones have grown their furry little coats and I have been turning them daily to keep them from sticking.  They have been at temps of 53-58 with humidity generally at 85-98.  Tonight when I checked on them the humidity said 99%.  I let the box air out for a bit and marveled at how incredibly CUTE they look - then... I picked one up and it was very clear that there was a good amount of space between the rind and the cheese.  There is no break in the rind - but it was a dissapointment.  Especially since I just make 4 MORE cams this weekend.  I think I've fallen in love with these gems.  Watching the mold grow is like having a grownup "foodie" Chia Pet.  (I hear you can eat them, too.)

I used a different recipe for the second set - the main difference being using MM100 instead of Flora Danica.  The pH was 6.5 at clean break, and 5.04-5.06 at the end of draining. Other than that, seems to behave the same as the last one.

What can I do to prevent this on other cheeses?  Will this harm the cheese? The new batch was first salted and put into colder temps yesterday- acting out of instinct, I re-salted them just now.  Then I realized I don't have nearly enough experience to have developed any sort of "instinct".  So here I am.... help?
Title: Re: camembert using goat milk
Post by: linuxboy on January 21, 2014, 03:20:32 AM
Drop the temp down to 40-45F. Should be fine, unless curd was way too moist after drain.
Title: Re: camembert using goat milk
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 21, 2014, 03:46:22 AM
Yep, sometimes the best thing to do is sit with a power pose like everything is great and keep at it.

([url]http://i3.kym-cdn.com/photos/images/original/000/050/956/3328844488_63c98eb81a.jpg[/url])


Sorry, just to say  ;D
Title: Re: camembert using goat milk
Post by: Digitalsmgital on January 21, 2014, 04:47:09 AM
Firstly, since watching the season premier of Sherlock last night, all I seem to be doing is faking a British accent (in my head, at least), so timely advice, Linuxboy.  ;)



Wait. Are you saying Season 3 is finally out?
Title: Re: camembert using goat milk
Post by: sarak on January 21, 2014, 02:42:56 PM
YES!  Season 3 aired on Sunday!!  He's back!