Brie didn't kill me

[tobyw]

I posted here earlier about some bries which developed a greenish/yellowish tinge to them which looked a little scary but the consensus seemed to be not harmful. I at them at the weekend and thought someone might find an update of interest.

This is how they looked at eating time




You can see how seasick they look. And the reverse side wasn't fully coated in bloom, showing that bright, almost fluorescent rind.



Here's a view of the sides - the rind looked like one of those adverts for a Scholl heel scraper...



But you all promised me it wouldn't kill me, so on to the eating...

The inside didn't look too bad at all



You could almost mistake this for a shop-bought cheese to look at, except the telltale yellow is noticeable at the top



Here goes...(my wife checked the clock at this point cheerfully informing me that since it takes about 8 hours before food poisoning kills you, she was predicting a visit to hospital just after the evening news)



Because of that I bottled it - cutting off the worst of the nasty looking stuff, which looked like this



I slowly tried a bit more of the yellowy parts - the best description I can manage is a bitter citrus-y taste. Not pleasant, but not that you'd gag on it.

This residue had me thinking she might be right about the hospital...



But it all got eaten, and no one died. Not even a twinge of belly ache. Even my wife tried some.

As for the taste of the 'good' parts - they didn't taste that exciting. Quite bland. No hint of ammonia, but they lacked that unmistakable brie-ishness. Could be a lack of salt. Possibly the starter culture (I only had thermophilic available). Possibly the ripening at fridge temperatures.

And that's that. I wanted to let those of you who commented know that you were right that it wasn't dangerous, and I'm hoping that this post might encourage someone who runs into the same problem.

[Gregore]

I would think that you are correct that the blandness was due to the salt being to little . They should have1.4 to  1.5% or so by weight.

If I remember correctly these were aged in a fridge    That could have some effect  on flavor and it could also lead to the paste inside being more dry like in the pictures

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Congratulations on your survival.

[Rain Frances]

Thank you for posting that! I'm glad all was well. I am venturing into a Camembert soon and this gives me encouragement!

[Schnecken Slayer]

ac4u for your not being nominated for a "Darwin Award"   

[tobyw]

Thank you for posting that! I'm glad all was well. I am venturing into a Camembert soon and this gives me encouragement!

I don't think you could possibly do worse than I seem to be doing... bon courage!

[Fritz]

Congrats on the cheese make and bold taste test .... it all boils down to THAT moment ..doesn't it

It sounded like you subbed cultures and maturing temps... may I suggest... Try to stick with the recipe ...including cultures, temps and times... it makes a difference. And improves success ... once you make a few batches by recipe, then experiment or substitute.

[tobyw]

Just saw your reply Fritz thanks for the advice. Gratefully received as always.

You are right that I am not very good at following the recipe. I have no cheese cave or space for other options (ice box etc) so I have to rely on the fridge. I may have to wait a while before I can get a better set up. I have now invested in some mesophilic culture and geo - still smarting at the price! So far, as posted on other threads, the difference seems to be that my cheeses are yeasty smelling at the draining stage. I am hoping this is just the culture, and that the end result will taste better for using the correct mesophilic culture instead of thermophilic. 

[Fritz]

Hi Tobyw, it will get better as material, knowledge and experience improves so don't get frustrated or give up
You always have us to help you along, there are no silly questions here. I've thrown out (actually fed my cheese fails to the pigs) plenty of cheeses because something went wrong.., usually me falling asleep during my late night (early morning) cheese makes.. lol...

I need a stiring machine !

[awakephd]

The good news about the geo is that a little goes a LONG way. I'm still using the original packet I bought two or three years ago - kept in the freezer in a ziploc bag, it continues to work just fine. And after making a dozen or so camemberts, I'd guess I still have at least half of the packet left!