Camembert Challenges

[Dave Hawey]

I've successfully made a few batches of camembert but the last batch had a few challenges resulting in a cheese that did not bloom and produced very unique cheese:

1. Cow Milk 
2.Pasteurized, not homogenized
3. After rennet, the fat appeared to separate from the curd (Pic attached)
Although this looked like it may be a failure, I decided to proceed.
4. No bloom
5. The surface dried quickly, forming a rind
6.  It's now 3 weeks old but tastes like 6 months
7.  The texture holds but will crumble.  It is shave-able.
8.  There is a slight trace of white mold inside
9. Flavour is sharp, nutty, mild blue -very little camembert taste

Has anyone experienced this before?
Do you recommend eating it?
To try & replicate, can I wash a freshly formed cheese with brine?

Thanks for your feedback

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Hi Dave
I had a Camembert make recently which did not bloom although I still don't know why. It did not have the other characteristics which you describe though.
My immediate thought when I saw the fat separating was that the milk might have been close to its use-by date. I always hunt in the back of the supermarket fridge to get the newest milk.
I would suspect that the loss of fat would explain the texture.
In my case, I changed the cheese to a washed rind. That worked well for me and I ended up with a very nice cheese, just not a bloomy white.

[Dave Hawey]

Thanks for the feedback Andrew. 
I just made another 7 wheels so I'll try to replicate this 'happy accident' by washing the rind on one.  If I get similar results I'll add to this post.

[Andrew Marshallsay]

I will watch with interest.

[Dorchestercheese]

Do you have the recipe you used? Is the picture after the curd set and you cut it? Perhaps you've made a new cheese

[Dave Hawey]

I used a camembert recipe, but the milk I used was not homogenized, just pasteurized, from a local dairy.   
I teach culinary management at a local college and have a team of interested students who volunteer their time to learn the craft of cheese making.  In this batch, the cream rose to the top of the 20 lt pail of milk but they didn't stir the cream into the milk before they began heating it.   Once the rennet was added the butterfat seemed to separated from the curd.
I agree with you and think this may be a 'new' cheese.  I'm trying to recreate it.  If I can get a cheese this good in 4 weeks, we may be on to something!  A happy accident.