Camembert - Mistake in Artisan Cheesemaking? Much anxiety

[pastpawn]

In the Camembert recipe in Artisan Cheesemaking at Home, Mary Karlin says to stir 5 tablespoons of salt into the curds and whey before the curds are removed.  This is a 3 quart recipe.  That sounds like a LOT of salt.  I realize that a lot of this salt will be removed with the whey. 

Can I get a reality check on this please?  I already made the cheese (!), but now I'm having night sweats.  I doubled the recipe and was shocked to see how much salt, 10 tbsp, I was adding. 

BTW, they look perfect so far, 2 days in. 

[Stinky]

That does sound like a lot... it's not on her list of corrections, so I don't know. 

[OzzieCheese]

Ooooh ! that is a lot - have a look at the amount I use. 

Now that said.... if you are adding salt to the Curds before you drain them will have a couple of effects. First, it will make the cheese too salty and second, I think it is being added at the wrong time as adding salt will halt the pH development.  The salting of Camembert happens after the cheese has ripened, I do that overnight, the pH of the cheese needs to be about 4.6-4.8 before you hand salt or brine salt them. 
   
Try this recipe
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13412.0.html
Don't give up !! 

-- Mal

[pastpawn]

That does sound like a lot... it's not on her list of corrections, so I don't know. 

Right.  I downloaded the errata when I got the book, but it appears that my book is a second edition because all the changes are already in the book. 

[pastpawn]

Ooooh ! that is a lot - have a look at the amount I use. 

Now that said.... if you are adding salt to the Curds before you drain them will have a couple of effects. First, it will make the cheese too salty and second, I think it is being added at the wrong time as adding salt will halt the pH development.  The salting of Camembert happens after the cheese has ripened, I do that overnight, the pH of the cheese needs to be about 4.6-4.8 before you hand salt or brine salt them. 
   
Try this recipe
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13412.0.html
Don't give up !! 

-- Mal

The pH was at 5.84 when I added the salt.  That was 3 days ago. 

This morning, when I flipped them, I measured the whey pH:  4.58.  They seem perfect.  I could eat them right now

Here's a pic of them just before they went into the cave.

[OzzieCheese]

They do look good . . .  and I supposed the proof is in the eating - try a small scrap of the cheese on the tray and see what the salt is like, you might be ok as you mentioned before a lot of the salt would probably remain in the whey and hence drain away. The pH sounds about right. There are many roads to the same destination.  Just a little point, make sure when you get a slight fuzzy covering, about the 7-8 day mark, get them into a colder fridge.  I move them into my household fridge (4degC) for the remainder of the ripening.

A Cheese for perseverance.

-- Mal

[pastpawn]

They do look good . . .  and I supposed the proof is in the eating - try a small scrap of the cheese on the tray and see what the salt is like, you might be ok as you mentioned before a lot of the salt would probably remain in the whey and hence drain away. The pH sounds about right. There are many roads to the same destination.  Just a little point, make sure when you get a slight fuzzy covering, about the 7-8 day mark, get them into a colder fridge.  I move them into my household fridge (4degC) for the remainder of the ripening.

A Cheese for perseverance.

-- Mal

Right.  I've read other's experience (warnings) here.  As soon as I see a patina of PC on them, I'm moving them to the other cave (the beer lagering freezer). 

[OzzieCheese]

Oh now there is a match made in heaven - beer and camembert.  I kid you not !!  everyone I know asks what wine to have with cheese and they are quite surprised when I say they are missing the better experience.

Here are a couple I've tried and recommend

Stout and Stilton
Guinness and every thing - all right I'm very partial to the black gold.  A blue, a sharp cheddar 
Pilsner and Camembert
Wheat beers and Emmental or Jarlsberg
Pale Ale (or a nice top fermented lager) and an old cheddar.
Lager and Blue cheese is also a wonderful combination

As I haven't ventured into the 'Stinky' world just yet, i'm sure there are beer and 'Stinky' combos just as wonderful

Experiment !!   

-- Mal

[pastpawn]

Oh now there is a match made in heaven - beer and camembert.  I kid you not !!  everyone I know asks what wine to have with cheese and they are quite surprised when I say they are missing the better experience.

Here are a couple I've tried and recommend

Stout and Stilton
Guinness and every thing - all right I'm very partial to the black gold.  A blue, a sharp cheddar 
Pilsner and Camembert
Wheat beers and Emmental or Jarlsberg
Pale Ale (or a nice top fermented lager) and an old cheddar.
Lager and Blue cheese is also a wonderful combination

As I haven't ventured into the 'Stinky' world just yet, i'm sure there are beer and 'Stinky' combos just as wonderful

Experiment !!   

-- Mal

Haha, you don't have to tell me.  You can see my camemberts sharing space with some fermenting beer.  There's a couple of carboys of pale ale and also a couple of a vanilla bourbon porter.  They'll be kegged in a week.

[OzzieCheese]

Awww ! that brings good feelings to my heart . . . .

-- Mal

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Take it easy Mal. You're drooling all over the forum.

[OzzieCheese]

Sorry !!

[pastpawn]

Closing the loop on this thread... I've been eating these camembert and the salt was not a problem.

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13747.msg103990.html#msg103990