1st Cambozola Need Advice

[Al Lewis]

Okay, I really want to make a cambozola.  I have p candidum, geotrichum candidum, flora danica, roqueforti, and buttermilk culture.  Not sure which of these is the best, read as most successful, for making cambozola.  When I did my Camembert I used a pinch of the geotrichum and the candidum.  Should I use both for this or is one better by itself?  Does the roqueforti have to be sprinkled in the middle or can it be mixed in the milk?  As with most cheeses I've tried to research a recipe on there seems to be as many different ones as people making them.  Thought I would seek the help of those of you that have successfully made this cheese and then turn this page into a make.  This will be a triple cream version using pasteurized milk.  Thanks in advance.

[Al Lewis]

Okay, after going through several web sites and comparing recipes here is what I have come up with.  This will be my recipe, good or bad, for making a Cambozola.

Cambozola

Ingredients
•   2 US gallons pasteurized-homogenized whole milk with 1 quart heavy cream added
•   1/4 teaspoon Calcium Chloride for the pasteurized milk
•   1/4 teaspoon Flora Danica Mesophilic Starter Culture
•   1/4 teaspoon liquid animal rennet in 4 ounces of cool water
•   1/32 teaspoon Penicillium candidum
•   pinch of Geotrichum
•   1/16 teaspoon Penicillium roqueforti
•   Salt

Making
1.    Pour milk/cream into pot and add CaCl2, and heat slowly to 86 F. Maintain this temperature throughout the process.
2.    Sprinkle Flora Danica, Penicillium candidum, and Geotrichum onto the warmed milk, let thoroughly dissolve before gently stirring in, using top to bottom strokes. Allow to ripen for 30 minutes.
3.    Dilute rennet in 4 ounces cool water and stir gently into milk for about 2-4  minutes. Set aside to let curd set.
4.    After 90 min check for clean break, wait longer if required.
5.    Gently ladle 1/3 of the curds, keep as large as possible, into a 8" cylinder mold.
6.    Sprinkle a very small dusting of penicillium roqueforti on top of the curds. Repeat this step with a further 1/3 of the curd.
7.    Gently ladle the rest of the curds into the top.
8.    Let the curd drain for 16-24 hours, until you see no additional draining, turning the mold during this period at increasing intervals to ensure drain evenly, i.e. after 1/2, 1, 3, 7, and 12 hours.
9.    Day 2 remove from the mold and add the first dose of salt to the surface. 1 tsp of salt is added and then evenly spread over the surface. This can then be lightly spread to the outside edge as well. There will be less salt on the edge but the next application will also be applied to the edge and even out the distribution. When finished, place back in the mold with salt side up and leave until the salt dissolves in the cheese moisture and eventually into the cheese. 
In about 4-6 hours flip the cheese and repeat on the other side.
10.  Day 3 carefully remove Cambozola from mold and place onto a draining mat in a 65F room to finish drying.  Turn often until no surface moisture is seen.

Aging
1.   After cheese has dried place in cave at 56F and 95% RH.
2.   About day 3-6 you should note a growth of a white felt-like surface of mold (P. candidum), which will begin to fill in over the next few days and eventually cover the surface with a full coat of fuzz. This can be gently patted down when you turn the cheese daily.
3.   When good white mold has covered cheese, puncture sides to center at both levels the roqueforti was sprinkled using a clean thermometer. Turn thermometer while slowly inserting to minimize tearing cheese.
4.   Continue to age at lower 56F, re-poke holes if additional white mold bloom covers the original holes.
5.   10-14 days after the original puncturing, wrap cheeses in Camembert Paper and age at 40-50F for several weeks until center is soft to the touch.

[bbracken677]

I think the amounts of PC and PR are a bit excessive. I usually get good pc growth with my cams while going with just 1/32 tsp. for 2 gallons. I suspect you can get by with much less PR as well, like maybe 1/16th?

[hoeklijn]

I agree with bbracken on the amounts of molds. Besides that the description looks okay. I guess the thermometer is pretty thin? I use a sort of bbq-stick, about 9 mm wide and 3 mm thick, works okay for me....
I have a batch of 4 waiting in the cave, all wrapped up. Have to save at least one of them for Christmas.
Picture is from one of a previous batch.

[Al Lewis]

Thanks for the advice.  ;D  I'll probably make this this weekend so I'll post pictures.  I'm looking to get a double layer of blue.  I made room in the cave tonight so I could do this.

[Boofer]

Good looking cave, Al. :)

-Boofer-

[george]

Okay, youse dudes are messin' with my head here, right?  Because if bbracken uses 1/32nd tsp for 2 gallons, and Al is doing a 4 gallon make, the recipe says 1/16th tsp, which would be correct.  Al, did you edit the recipe amounts without telling me?   ;D

[Al Lewis]

Sorry about that, I edited them after the post per the suggestions. LOL  \

Thanks Boofer! :D

hoeklijn, the thermometer I use is .120" in diameter so right around 3mm.

[Al Lewis]

Okay, first off I adjusted the recipe back to 2 gallons.  Here's why, get ready for a really hair brained scheme.  :o  You see I have this open end stilton mold I bought a while back that just fits into this 2 gallon stainless pot I also have.  Anyone see where this is going?  ???

[Al Lewis]

So I make the camembert in the 2 gallon pot.  Then, once the curd has set, I press the mold into the curd to cut a perfect form that will fill the mold as it is about the same height as the pot.  Then I place a mat over the end of the mold and turn the entire thing upside down to get the single large curd into the mold and out of the pot. :P

[H-K-J]

Yup and it's a good plan, remember smaller=less ageing ;)

[Al Lewis]

Now for the final steps.  I have another mold, with a bottom in it, that is the same diameter as the stilton mold so.....  I mate up the ends and slide the large curd 2.5 inches into the other mold and slice it off.  Now I can sprinkle the roqueforti onto the open face of the curd and then slide the piece back into the mold.  I then do the same thing to the other end and finish with the, now three piece, large curd back in the stilton mold where it can be flipped and drained as if it were one piece. ;D  I realize this is mad scientist stuff but I really think I can pull it off.  If nothing else it will be a great story.  ::)  Any comments???  LMAO

[hoeklijn]

LOL, yes, it's a smart way to do it, but to be honest: The method of just filling the moulds halfway, sprinkle the PR and fill the rest is also working. I wonder which method they use in the commercial making of Cambozola.....

[Al Lewis]

Not sure about cambozola but I've read that brie and camembert is cut this way so there is a single mass of curd in the mold.  That's where I got the idea. ???

[Boofer]

Sounds like a revolutionary idea, Al.

IMHO, the only gotcha that occurs to me is that you might minimize the gaps inside the paste where the blue can grow. By scooping/ladling and filling the moulds you would create more crevices and spaces for the PR.

-Boofer-