Black Ash Camembert

[Marco]

A slightly longer ageing period than normal due to the thickness of these cams to start with. A layer of black ash was mixed with the salt and applied at that stage. You can see it peeping out under the skins of the finished Cams!

A 20L batch with flora danica.

[not_ally]

Pretty, Marco. Do you find differences (taste or aging) when ashing cams? I think I remember Ozzie recommending against it because it was harder to establish gc/pc growth because of the lower PH. Could be misremembering.

[mikekchar]

The ash should *raise* the pH, so it will encourage PC.  Ashes are how lye is made ;-)  My naive thought (having never done it) is that this will allow the PC to grow without needing yeasts like geotrichum to set the stage.  So you will get a different flavour profile.

[Marco]

Pretty, Marco. Do you find differences (taste or aging) when ashing cams? I think I remember Ozzie recommending against it because it was harder to establish gc/pc growth because of the lower PH. Could be misremembering.

This was the best batch yet from a flavour perspective. I never have any issues with mould growth but then I ‘double dip’. Pc and geo were added to the batch and then a pc solution was sprayed on the cams on day 3.

[not_ally]

Duh, I should have realized that Mike, I used to make soap before my hands got wonky and I got nervous about upending lye heavy batches on myself. I am just reading Caldwell on washed rinds and she expands on your summary here describing how the yeasts (in that case DH and geo) break down lactic acid /create ammonia and raise the PH, "this creating a hospitable environment for the surface bacteria." 

The chemistry/biology behind cheesemaking is so interesting, I wish I could remember and put all the pieces together better. It is a pretty complicated decision tree if you're not a natural at that kind of stuff.

Mario, your ashed cams just look kind of fun to do! As an aside, food grade ash is readily available and cheap here because a lot of people brush their teeth with it. It gets them squeaky clean and is amusing to look at in the bathroom mirror:)

[not_ally]

Marco, if you see this, what ratio of ash/salt do you use?  I'm having trouble getting my cams to establish a full bloom, so thought I'd try cutting back on the salt a little bit and ashing them as well. I just don't want to overdo it, I see comments about them getting over-ripened too fast with ash because of too much PC, too quickly, although yours seem to be fine. 

[Marco]

Marco, if you see this, what ratio of ash/salt do you use?  I'm having trouble getting my cams to establish a full bloom, so thought I'd try cutting back on the salt a little bit and ashing them as well. I just don't want to overdo it, I see comments about them getting over-ripened too fast with ash because of too much PC, too quickly, although yours seem to be fine.

I used a salt/ash mix from here: https://cheeseandyogurt.co.uk/collections/featured/products/ash-for-cheesemaking

I personally don’t like doing it this way and for my current batch (see top 3 containers in pic) I sieved the salt out and applied more ash and then added the salt back in, no issue with pc growth.

[not_ally]

Thanks, Marco. They're ashed but a little too wet, crossing my fingers and trying to figure out if I should have air dried them more before caving them. That ash sure does make a mess.

[Marco]

It does make a mess but soon sorts itself out moisture wise.