First Camembert: triple cream

[bbracken677]

Thanks Boofer!  Appreciate the support!


I still want to taste a small piece just so I can connect flavor with development and odor....I must resist! (resistance is not futile!)  haha

[george]

....my wife thinks I am a nut. I carried the mini-cave into the living room and announced "I have mold growing on my cheese.....smell this!"

LOL - that reminds me of when I first started playing with cheese.  I didn't have anyone physically in the house that I could do that to, but my sissy didn't take long to start complaining that all I ever talked about was cheese.  I told her it was just payback for all those long drawn-out newspaper delivery, critter pee, critter poop, and chicken stories over the years.   ;D

[Boofer]

critter pee, critter poop, and chicken stories over the years.   ;D

Well, I was going to have breakfast.... Mornin', george!  :)

-Boofer-

[bbracken677]

LOL Boofer!


Funny thing, perhaps totally normal.

The smell of the cheese (that buttery yummy smell) seems to have dissipated .... not much of a smell at all.
Perhaps due to the emergence of geo or pc bloom?

[george]

Well, I was going to have breakfast.... Mornin', george!  :)

LOL - see?  I KNEW she was getting off easier because my only subject was cheese!  (Besides, you could always have some chicken for breakfast.)   ;D

[bbracken677]

Day 6 and the triplets have a nice covering of PC growth...almost uniform coverage...

Do I start patting down the pc growth now? Or should I wait until full coverage...which will probably be tomorrow or next day.

[bbracken677]

Monday brings even more PC development...when I turned them I pressed/patted down the growth, even though, profile-wise, there wasn't much to press down.

[bbracken677]

Ok....today I notice the corners are getting a bit soft.....I so want to lop off an edge for a taste!!   

lol  Everything seems to be going well....but!  In the immortal words of Steven Wright: "If everything seems to be going well, you have obviously overlooked

something."

[Boofer]

Not entirely sure, but it looks in that second pic that your cheese has developed an extreme case of what looks to be a canine version of poil de chat......les cheveux du chien.  :o

-Boofer-

[bbracken677]

hahaha! 

I just had to toss a pic of my buddy in the mix....

You know, outside of a dog, a book is man's best friend.

Inside of a dog, it's too dark to read......


Waiting another 2-4 weeks to sample the goodies is going to tax my patience severely.....but!  To get me by I will be making a few cheeses in the meantime....which will in turn tax my patience again...and again.

[Boofer]

That's a good-lookin' dog.

I'll see your dog...and raise....

Six years old at the end of this month. What a gift she is!

-Boofer-

[bbracken677]

She's really nice looking!   

Dogs are special : )    Mine is named Tanner....my kids were never horribly original when it came to naming them. His mom was a predominantly black Cocker whom they named Coal.   She was everyone's friend and extremely smart as well!  She adopted my youngest, and wound up leaving us to go with Kat (Katherine) when she went to Memphis for her post-grad studies. Lived a long life of 16 years before finally passing last year.
Tanner, on the other hand, was my buddy....not everyone's friend, but extremely smart. He asks permission to jump up in my lap lol  he will touch my leg with a paw and give me that look.

[Boofer]

Funny you mention that. We had two family dogs growing up, both black cocker spaniels. The first was a male, Kipper. When we lived in the Canal Zone, Kipper had iguanas as playmates. Not really, they just bit him when he tried to play with them.  :o

The second Cocker was a female named Coley (with an obvious nod to "coal"). She used to love to run...and climb trees!

Yeah, Knickie (Knick-Knack) is a lapdog. Loves to give kisses with her extremely long tongue. She's a runner too. Loves to run. Say "bird" or "squirrel" and she's hot after them.

Sorry, didn't mean to hijack the thread. Love my our dog!

-Boofer-

[iratherfly]

bbracken677, sorry to arrive so late at this thread. I hope not too late. Your cheese looks like it's getting slip skin. The rind is growing very fast and thick while the interior is not yet ripened or dry enough. I strongly urge you to reduce temperature and moisture dramatically for a few days.
Skin slippage is when the portion under the rind ages too quickly and the center of the cheese never does. Eventually it liquifies into a layer of ammonia between the immature body of the cheese and the dry rind, and the rind hangs loose and slips off.

Humidity control and watching out for this specific issue is the #1 most important thing in aging Camembert. This is the #1 reason for failure in Camemberts and it takes a few time to learn to recognize that this is happening when you still have enough time to save it. I think you still can put this cheese on track. Reduce humidity to 85% for 3-4 days and move the box to top shelf in the fridge at about 40°F-43°F. Turn the cheese in the morning and at night and rub it with your clean hands to tighten the skin a bit while spreading the spores across the surface. DO NOT WRAP IT YET.

[bbracken677]

Thanks Yoav!  I have reduced the temp to 42F....I was working yesterday to reduce the humidity and I am glad that 85% is a good number...I seemed to be able to achieve either 85 or 99....hitting a number in between was giving me fits lol...

I dont think it has progressed much...I had suspicions which is why I was trying to reduce RH. There is only a tad bit of softness at the corners at the edge of the wheel. The rest is still pretty solid, and I have only had full coverage PC growth since Sunday/Monday.

Regarding wrapping...I had read enough here on the forum to make me think I shouldnt go that route since I only had 3 cams and can keep them in the cave under conditions they need. I figured full aging in the cave until taking them to the regular fridge.