Camembert question

[steffb503]

I have made a number of good Camemberts. This time I made a batch of 8.
is there any reason that there should be any differance between the 8? If I open and like one the rest should be the same?

[OzzieCheese]

If they were houses, ripened and matured under the same conditions then there is little reason to think otherwise.  That said, they are their own little cheese and being homemade cheese there is no absolute guarantee - but I wouldn't stress over it too much

-- Mal 

[jmason]

I don't find that different cams in a batch will be different but I defiantly see them ripen at different rates.  No idea why and strangely it is sometimes the smallest of them that ripen the slowest, but they all get there and maybe it's a blessing since I can only eat one at a time.

John

[OzzieCheese]

Just another one of those "It Depends" mysteries

--Mal

[hoeklijn]

Just another one of those "It Depends" mysteries

--Mal

e.g. the temperature and the RH won't be the same everywhere in your cave....

[OzzieCheese]

And to add further...  I have 6 of my 'Malemberts' currently ripening in the  4DegC Fridge (Two in each container) and blow me down two (the same container) are ripening faster than the other 4 - Looks like I'll be enjoying two a little sooner than planned

-- Mal     

[steffb503]

Thanks
They will be for sale so I can handle the not ready yet but if they taste drastically different than my sample it would be a problem.

[Bantams]

They should be very similar if they were salted the same and aged in the same temp and humidity.
Uneven ripening of cheeses from one batch would mean that something is different between them.  Usually it's a variation in salt (could dramatically skew their taste and texture) or just that one got dried a little more because it was by the door, for example.  A slightly different amount of curd in each mold can also affect them - small ones tend to dry out, bigger ones might retain too much moisture.  Also, with a small batch, your first one or two cheeses will contain more butterfat than the last ones that you scoop - sometimes the cream will rise dramatically in just 10-20 minutes at renneting.  A good indication is the initial mold growth - if it doesn't come in the same on all sides on every cheese, they were not consistent in salt and moisture. 
Fast ripening cams (too fast) often contain too much moisture and too little salt and will taste bitter and will ammoniate quickly.  Slow ripening cams are too dry, maybe due to size and humidity, or because they were salted too heavily.  Over-salted tastes better than under-salted.
Since this is your first larger batch, I would sample two of them - the two outliers - and see how they compare.

[OzzieCheese]

Thanks Bantams
That is a good breakdown of possible issues. Having not done large batches, it is great to get larger picture. You raise an interesting point about creaming I never considered as I don't ladle directly from curd mass into the forms - makes sense   Same with the salting and moisture - this might be where batch brining has the advantage over hand salting as you can get them all salted the same.

A cheese for you

-- Mal