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CHEESE TYPE BOARDS (for Cheese Lovers and Cheese Makers) => ADJUNCT - Rennet Surface White Mold (Penicillium candidum) Ripened => Topic started by: Tiarella on August 17, 2012, 01:11:26 AM
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This is from my first batch of Brie I think. I made 3 batches in one week so I'm not sure and don't have notes. Anyway....they ended up aging in a friend's extra fridge with it on it's warmest setting but still colder than optimal I believe. I didn't flip daily (40 minute drive to get there) and hadn't heard about patting down the bloom and I did have some very nice bloom. (might have needed hedge shears if it had gotten any taller) Anyway....it tasted great although rather like my favorite cheese from our local coop....called "Camembrie" and sort of a mix as you can guess. But now there's this purplish color starting in the insides. I haven't noticed it making it awful tasting although it's definitely more Cammem than Brie at this point. Any ideas about this? Iknow.....these photos are of truly ugly Brie. Hope they don't turn your stomach! The first photo shows part of the same wheel without much of the alien color. The second one is the stomach turner.
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Wow, I think you've done it! You have created an entirely new living organism! Congratulations. :o
Call the HazMat Team...stat!
No notes, huh? So we will never know what has been created in your lab tonight.
-Boofer-
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Maybe I'll have to come up with a new name for it. I could call it St. Mauve. I particularly like the PC lined geode-like cavities in it.
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It's alive!!! It's alive!!!
*maniacal laugh*
I am guessing that is what happens when gas creates holes inside the brie, or...when the curds are not settled fully.
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But what about the pinky-mauve color? It's weird looking!
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No idea.....what is the smell like?
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Well, at least when the 8) Men in Black 8) come by and make you forget all about this life form, we have proof of it on the forum.....
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I think LB commented about something like this before, something about a make which resulted in very "airy" and uncompacted paste that resulted in PC growth INSIDE the paste.
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It smells like the rest of the cheese, the men in black haven't shown up yet and do you think that PC growing inside could cause the mauve color? There, I've responded to all 3 of you helpful ones...... : >
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I was wondering what the cheese smells like...earthy....mushroomy...buttery?
As to the color...no idea whatsoever.
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Is it growing on the cut surface or is the entire interior of the cheese mauve colored?
If it is just on the surface, I would suspect a linens variant. That is; if it has a smell that matches. So does it smell anything like a muenster? (A real Alsatian muenster, not the ersatz American stuff. ;))
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geode-like
That's it! Excellent characterization. :)
-Boofer-
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I suppose you added the PC together with the rest of the culture? Can you share the recipe and notes about the making? And what kind of cheeses do you have in the cave at this moment that could have given cross contamination?
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Is it growing on the cut surface or is the entire interior of the cheese mauve colored?
If it is just on the surface, I would suspect a linens variant. That is; if it has a smell that matches. So does it smell anything like a muenster? (A real Alsatian muenster, not the ersatz American stuff. ;))
It's inside, not just on cut surfaces. I suddenly have some pollen allergies this past week so my nose isn't capable of as much nuance sniffing and I'm not a cheese expert so not sure about smell. I'll leave some out to warm up and then do some sniffing. It does seem edible since I'm still alive and if not exactly kicking, at least drinking tea. ; ). Haven't had any type of Muenster for decades so I wonder if I'll remember that smell. I'll get back to you on that. Thanks for the hints....
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I suppose you added the PC together with the rest of the culture? Can you share the recipe and notes about the making? And what kind of cheeses do you have in the cave at this moment that could have given cross contamination?
Yes, I added the PC during the making. I used the Brie recipe from makingsenseodthings.info. Sorry, I'm on my iPad and don't yet have the hang of creating page links with it. Anyway, summary is as follows. Raw goat milk to 89.6, add cultures and shortly after, rennet. (MM100, PC, vegetable dble. Strength rennet adjusted amount).
Stir 2 or so minutes.
Floc time of 8 min X 5 minutes for a 40 min timing for cutting. Cut into 1" cubes, ladle into molds. I did some flipping of the molds which they do not. In molds for 2 days at room temp. Then salted , put on mats in a fridge for about 3 weeks in Pyrex containers. As original post mentioned I was not able to give them much care after putting in friend's fridge. Plus, Did 3 batches around the same time and labels didn't all stay on the containers so not sure of some of the particulars of this particular little wheel. No cross contamination from other cheese since these went into a fridge with no other cheese.....nothing but a few bottles of seltzer water. Any ideas are appreciated. What is Mucor? Saw it mentioned in reference to some variety of PC. I'll also get around to looking it up but it sounds like a good name for something as ugly as this mauve stuff as in, "attack of the mauve Mucor".
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I'm a relative newbie to cheesemaking, but I did go the the website for the Brie recipe you used. As far as the color--no idea. But for 4L milk shows a "few grains" of starter culture. Depending on your interpretation of that, it could be very, very little. Also the recipe has you aging in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. I think that temperature of around 40 degrees may also be too cold.
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I'm a relative newbie to cheesemaking, but I did go the the website for the Brie recipe you used. As far as the color--no idea. But for 4L milk shows a "few grains" of starter culture. Depending on your interpretation of that, it could be very, very little. Also the recipe has you aging in the refrigerator in a plastic bag. I think that temperature of around 40 degrees may also be too cold.
That "few grains" of starter culture may have been meant to read "few grams" perhaps. I think I did a cross check with other recipes to arrive at my amount. They all developed a good bloom at the fridge temp. Their final weeks of aging happened in that warmer fridge. One of the batches got sprayed with the PC but all three bloomed well. Good sleuthing on your part........any more thoughts?
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I was wondering what the cheese smells like...earthy....mushroomy...buttery?
As to the color...no idea whatsoever.
Joseph says it smells buttery once the nose goes past the slight Camembert sharp smell. The color is not uniformly throughout the center.....but it's spreading I think. Still a nice cheese but I think it'd help to wear dark glasses when eating it if at all freak-outable.