Camembert #2 (Cheese #4)

[rgreenberg2000]

I had some unexpected spare time yesterday, so I decided to make another batch of Camembert.  I followed a pretty similar recipe to the last one with some small tweaks (added Geo, reduced PC, used ladle to cut/transfer curds.)  Up to this point everything has gone pretty well, though it took forever to get the curds cut and into my 2 Camembert molds, and I finally had to sanitize a third mold to get them all done.  I got to use my sous vide vat setup for the second time, and really enjoyed the ease of maintaining the temp (though, with only one temp target in this make, not so hard to do anyway.)  I really felt like the curds had too much moisture going into the molds since I didn't cut them, and let them rest to release some whey.  I think that next time, I will go back to doing a large cut on the curds so I can leave some whey in the pot.....  Here's what I did:

6 qts milk (4qts whole, 2qts 2%)
1/2 tsp MM100
1/16 tsp PC
1/32 tsp Geo
1/2 tsp CaCL
1/2 tsp Rennet

Heat milk to 90F, rehydrate MM100, PC and Geo, stir for 2 minutes, acidify for 45-60 minutes
Add CaCL and rennet, let set until clean break (about 60 minutes)
Slice curds with ladle and transfer to molds
Flip when curds have settled a bit, then flip every hour
Leave to drain overnight
Salt, then put into cave in aging box flipping daily until just about covered with white mold
Wrap and age cold for 4-6 weeks

Getting warmed up:



REALLY full molds!



Curds were holding a lot of moisture, so rigged these up with a little water inside for a very small pressing:



Ready for their overnight nap:



Just salted:



I'll salt the bottoms in a few hours, let them sit out for another few, then will get them in boxes in my cave.  I still haven't cut my first batch, so I'm really getting a bit antsy to get to eat some of this cheese that I've made!!! Beginner's curse!

R

[awakephd]

Looking good! But I'm with you - I cut my curds and stir a bit to reduce the moisture before putting in the molds.

AC4U.

[PacoSEDG]

This is one of the cheeses I want to try soon, I will keep an eye on this thread. Good Luck and let us know how this comes out!

[rgreenberg2000]

Thanks, Andy.  Live and learn!

Paco, I'll definitely update here when I wrap for aging, and when I cut into them.  I've got another batch going, too, and I hope to be cutting into that one in the next 3-4 weeks.  I'll post results in my other thread, too.

R

[awakephd]

Paco, I'd say go for it!

I waited quite a while to make a camembert style, thinking it would be a very advanced cheese. In my experience, not so much - you really don't need to worry about tracking the pH, because you are going to let the pH bottom out. For the same reason, timing is pretty flexible, especially once it goes into the molds. No pressing (usually - ). It seems to tolerate being made "improperly" as I do, with rather shattered curds (I only have P&H milk here, sadly) and the wrong size molds (rather than tall ~100mm diameter molds, I'm using rather short 150mm diameter molds - 3 of these for a make with 2 gallons (8 l) of whole milk + 1 pt (500 ml) of heavy cream). To get the curds into the mold, I have to drain the curds for a good bit of time in a colander lined with cheesecloth -- no recipe ever includes that step! Surely all of this is going to leave the curds way too dry?? Apparently not - despite all the things I do "wrong," the results are heavenly!

You do need a way to ripen the cheese with high humidity ... which is difficult to achieve in my ex-wine-fridge-turned-cheese-cave. But no problem - I bought inexpensively plastic containers at Walmart, and ripen the cheese in those until well covered in PC (wiping out the moisture and flipping every day). Then I wrap and finish ripening in the kitchen refrigerator - I like the slower ripening that that provides. When I don't have cheese ripening paper on hand, I just keep them in the plastic containers--but the cheese paper is nice because otherwise you still have to wipe excess moisture out of the containers, though only every other day or so.

Now I consider this to be my "late afternoon" cheese, meaning that while with most cheeses I like to start in the morning to be sure I have enough time, with this cheese I can start late afternoon and not worry about being up too late. Theoretically it is supposed to be flipped every 15-30 minutes multiple times once it goes in the mold. Nah - as long as I get it flipped a couple of times to even out the surface, it doesn't seem to matter to just leave it over night, and then flip it in the morning to rest for another 12 hours before starting to salt it. So, so easy - and it is ready to eat in 6-7 weeks - and it tastes so, so good.

So, go for it!

[PacoSEDG]

Paco, I'd say go for it!

I waited quite a while to make a camembert style, thinking it would be a very advanced cheese. In my experience, not so much - you really don't need to worry about tracking the pH, because you are going to let the pH bottom out. For the same reason, timing is pretty flexible, especially once it goes into the molds. No pressing (usually - ). It seems to tolerate being made "improperly" as I do, with rather shattered curds (I only have P&H milk here, sadly) and the wrong size molds (rather than tall ~100mm diameter molds, I'm using rather short 150mm diameter molds - 3 of these for a make with 2 gallons (8 l) of whole milk + 1 pt (500 ml) of heavy cream). To get the curds into the mold, I have to drain the curds for a good bit of time in a colander lined with cheesecloth -- no recipe ever includes that step! Surely all of this is going to leave the curds way too dry?? Apparently not - despite all the things I do "wrong," the results are heavenly!

You do need a way to ripen the cheese with high humidity ... which is difficult to achieve in my ex-wine-fridge-turned-cheese-cave. But no problem - I bought inexpensively plastic containers at Walmart, and ripen the cheese in those until well covered in PC (wiping out the moisture and flipping every day). Then I wrap and finish ripening in the kitchen refrigerator - I like the slower ripening that that provides. When I don't have cheese ripening paper on hand, I just keep them in the plastic containers--but the cheese paper is nice because otherwise you still have to wipe excess moisture out of the containers, though only every other day or so.

Now I consider this to be my "late afternoon" cheese, meaning that while with most cheeses I like to start in the morning to be sure I have enough time, with this cheese I can start late afternoon and not worry about being up too late. Theoretically it is supposed to be flipped every 15-30 minutes multiple times once it goes in the mold. Nah - as long as I get it flipped a couple of times to even out the surface, it doesn't seem to matter to just leave it over night, and then flip it in the morning to rest for another 12 hours before starting to salt it. So, so easy - and it is ready to eat in 6-7 weeks - and it tastes so, so good.

So, go for it!

Thank you! This is what encouragement looks like to me! 

This weekend I bought a second hand wine-fridge-soon-cheese-cave and some plastic containers so I am going for this soon 

[rgreenberg2000]

Well, I got these three cheeses wrapped up today.  Good mold coverage, though there is some slip skin on one of them (wrapped it anyway to see what happens.....)  I still think I need to get them drier before getting them in their aging boxes, but time will tell.



Thanks for looking!

R

[awakephd]

Looking good! FWIW, I find that at this early stage, it is pretty normal for the skin to be easy to "smudge" - but that doesn't seem to translate into slip-skin later on, in my experience.

[PacoSEDG]

Looks fantastic, congratulations!

[rgreenberg2000]

Thanks, guys.....just have to wait now!