Cam Again

[Andrew Marshallsay]

When I asked my wife what I should make next she said Camembert. Of course, I always do as I'm told and, in this case, I didn't need much persuading.
The make so far:
· 3L Fleurieu Jersey Pasteurised, Non-homogenised milk. P = 3.3% F = 4.8% P/F = 0.69
· 3/20tsp / 0.83g (tad) of Flora Danica; 0.36g (pinch) PC; Approx. 1/4 drop(0.015g) Geotrichum Candidum
· 0.8 ml calcium chloride dissolved in 20ml of water.
· 1.0 ml of 140 IMCU animal rennet in 20 ml of water.
Warmed milk to 32C
Add cultures and leave for 2 min.
Stirred cultures in for 1 min. and ripened for 40 min.
Stirred in CaCl2 and rested for 5 min.
Stirred in rennet for 3min. Flocculation occurred at 10 min. Coagulation time = 6x10 = 60 min.
Cut to 25 mm. Rested 5 min.
Stirred gently for 10 min. Rested 5 min.
Ladled curds into two 95mm lined moulds and allowed to drain for 22-30 hrs. Turned at 15min, 40min, 1hr, 2½hrs, 3½hrs, 5hrs, 7hrs, 8hrs, 10hrs and ? Temp kept in the low 20s.

This time I used some Geo which I hadn't had before but the results have generally been good without it. I will be interested to see what happens this time.
The one thing of note so far has been the floc time: 14 minute on the last make and 10 minutes this time. Same rennet, same amount, same temperature. All very strange but I suppose that is the whole point of using the flocculation method.
Tomorrow I will salt them and allow them to drain until the day after when I will transfer them to the cheese fridge in an aging container.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

All drained and salted. I ended up leaving them for about 32 hours before salting.
pH at that stage was about 4.7 (using papers).
Salting was 1/2 tsp rubbed into the top and around the side, left for 2 hours and then turned and repeated on the other side.

[awakephd]

Gorgeous! AC4U. I envy your curds -- I only have access to P&H milk, and my curds nearly always shatter to some degree. It still turns into cheese, but ...

[Kern]

Stirred in rennet for 3min. Flocculation occurred at 10 min. Coagulation time = 6x10 = 60 min.........

The one thing of note so far has been the floc time: 14 minute on the last make and 10 minutes this time. Same rennet, same amount, same temperature. All very strange but I suppose that is the whole point of using the flocculation method.

In the work I did on reverse engineering the Belper Knolle video, I noticed that floc time was extremely influenced by the pH of the milk at the time of rennet addition: The lower the pH the faster the floc time. (Adding rennet at a lower pH also produces a firmer curd that drains faster).  Caldwell notes in many of the recipes in Mastering Artisan Cheesemaking that the milk should see a pH drop of about 0.05 from the starting pH before adding the rennet.  I think that a pH drop of 0.10 could make a several minute difference in the floc time at the high pH end of ripening (6.75).  A faster pH drop from batch to batch would result from a small difference in the initial amount of culture used.  Temperature also has an influence.  A couple of degrees warmer could chop a minute or two off of the floc time.  So, a tad more culture and a degree or two warmer and the floc time drops by 4 minutes.

You are correct to state that one should use the flocculation method to determine cut time (floc time x factor = cut time).  I don't know how one could use a "recipe time" and get consistent results from batch to batch.

A cheese for your efforts on this cam. 

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Thanks for the insight, Kern. Very interesting.
Thanks for the cheese too.

Andy, I generally get shattering of the curds to some degree, as I think you may see if you look at the photos closely. In fact, the first photo was taken not long after I started stirring, so little shattering had occurred.
I don't know how things are in your neck of the world but here you have to know where where to look to get un-homogenised milk (forget about raw milk). Of the three local supermarkets only one carries it. Still, as you say, it all makes cheese.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

A week on and I'm busy with a double Gloucester, cultured butter and ricotta but I took the time to check the little furry monsters. They are going well and developing a nice fleece.
Apologies for the photo quality. We'll put that down to rushing things.
I have to be careful and not let the whey boil over like I did last week.

[Cheesus]

Hi Raw Prawn,

Thanks for posting your journey!  I am new to the cheese game, and Camembert is one my wife too requested I give a shot as I venture into the world of cheese. 

Silly question - from what I can tell with the other Camembert posts, after the flipping/setting and removed from the molder, you just leave it on the counter top to sit for hours or do you recommend putting it in the fridge?  From my research, I read if it goes into the fridge, it would need to be in a proper container and lifted similar to your rack/shelf in the tupperware (with water for humidity). 

Do you recommend going straight to the fridge or is it okay to leave it out to age?  I am concerned our house temp is too hot (76-80F), and don't want the improper mold to grow and make us sick.

Thanks in advance,

Cheesus

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Hi Cheesus
I left these to drain on a plastic rack in a large plastic box, at room temperature. Room temperature here at the moment is in the low 20s (i.e. around 68-73 I think; I'm not good with Farenheit). I would still do something similar in warmer weather.
I am not aware that this would increase the chances of unwanted moulds invading your cheese.

[Boofer]

Oh Cheesus, would you please update your profile with your location?

Thanks ever so much.

-Boofer-

[Cheesus]

Hi Cheesus
I left these to drain on a plastic rack in a large plastic box, at room temperature. Room temperature here at the moment is in the low 20s (i.e. around 68-73 I think; I'm not good with Farenheit). I would still do something similar in warmer weather.
I am not aware that this would increase the chances of unwanted moulds invading your cheese.

Hi Raw Prawn,

Thanks for the information!  I think what's throwing me off is the countless methods that everyone does, and not sure of 'proper' protocol.  I will keep you posted if I find any further information in regards to warmer climate when in the aging method.  I have been tossing the idea of locating a wine fridge with a humidifier to eliminate the worry completely. 

I look forward to you updates!

-Cheesus

[Cheesus]

Oh Cheesus, would you please update your profile with your location?

Thanks ever so much.

-Boofer-

Hi Boofer - sorry about that, updated with location! 

[Andrew Marshallsay]

I don't think there is one 'proper' protocol. When I made my first cam I looked at a number of different recipes and worked out what looked like an average. It seems to work OK.
I use a small bar fridge with a thermostat on the power input. Humidity is an issue which I still have not solved. Summers here can be very hot and dry. For the Camemberts, and a number of other cheeses, I use plastic containers with racks in them to create micro-climates, rather than controlling the humidity of the fridge. I control the humidity in the containers by closing or partly opening the lids.

[Al Lewis]

I have just been setting mine on cheese paper in the cave for about 7 days flipping, and patting down the mold daily.  I've found this works great for exterior mold growth.  You can then move them to the fridge for ripening.  Tried this the second make i did and it worked out great so I've never changed it.  You might try adding some KCI (potassium chloride) slurry to the bottom of the container to maintain your Rh.

[H-K-J]

Al's right, the patting down trick works excellent for me also

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Two weeks in and the furry ones are doing very nicely.
Yes, I have been patting them down with each daily turning. Thanks for the advice. The KCl slurry is an interesting idea but I don't think it's really needed in the small sealed aging box I'm using.
So now they've reached the stage of being moved to the beer fridge, currently running at around 8C. In about 5 weeks they should be ready to go.