Camembert (Cheese #6)

[rgreenberg2000]

Back down the rabbit hole of trying to deliver a respectable camembert.  My first two makes were afflicted with slip skin, resulting in a bitter, not tasty "cheese".  So, I am, of course, giving it another go.  This time, I'm employing some advice from Andy (awakephd).  Here are the details:

6 qts whole milk + 1 pint cream
1/2 tsp rennet
1/2 tsp CaCL
1/2 tsp MM100
1/16 tsp PC
1/32 tsp Geo

Heated the milk up to 90 degrees, sprinkled in the MM100, PC and Geo, stirred, then let it rest for 45 minutes
Added CaCL, stirred, added rennet, stirred, then let rest until set enough for a clean break (this took 30 minutes)
Cut curd into large (~1") cubes, let rest 5 minutes, then stirred gently for a few minutes to release some whey
Transferred curds to two small hard cheese molds, which took some time in order to fit all the curds
After sitting in molds for 30 minutes, I flipped each
After another hour, flipped again, repeated twice, then let sit overnight
Flipped in the morning, and let sit until early evening, salted top and sides, then re-molded
Two hours later, I salted the remaining side and then left them in the molds until the next morning
Transferred to my tupperware (with mat and grid) and into the cave shooting for 55F/90%
Flipping the cheeses once or twice daily, and patting down the mold growth

As of this morning, they already have some nice white mold growth, and what looks to be a bit of yeast growth on the sides

My goal with the process changes was to get drier rounds going into the cave to hopefully alleviate my previous issues with slipskin.  Though I didn't measure it, my other goal was to get the pH to bottom out, which I highly suspect it did with that amount of time.  I'm very happy with how things appear to be going so far.  The two rounds are definitely firmer and less delicate than previous makes.  I have also had very little moisture escaping since in the cave, so I know that they went into the cave with much less moisture (hopefully, not too little!)

I was less camera happy this time around so, just a few shots......

After the first flip:



....and a couple of closeup shots from this morning when I flipped:





Thanks for checking this make out, and I'll post updates as we move into the next phases!

Cheers,
Rich

[TravisNTexas]

Looking good!  AC4U.  Good luck with this one.  What milk did you use?

[rgreenberg2000]

Thanks, Travis.

Store bought (Clover), P&H milk (1.5 gal) and a pint of heavy cream (which may, or may not, have been ultra pasteurized, I can't remember!)

R

[awakephd]

Fingers crossed! Looking good so far!

A couple of observations to throw into the mix: First, what type of cream did you use? If you used heavy whipping cream, your fat ratio will be higher than what I typically make - I use 2 gallons of milk + 1 pt of heavy cream. But if you used a lighter cream, you're probably in the same ball park.

What difference will it make if you are high on the cream end? My sense - based on a little bit of experience where I tried higher cream ratio, but not enough experience to be really sure - my sense is that with the higher cream, it tends to take longer to ripen, and then it will be more of a "stabilized" type of camembert - may not ever get really fully gooey, but rather just soft and spreadable. However, the extra time that takes also means more ammonia. Again, take this with a large grain of salt; I haven't really done anything systematic by way of experimenting in this area!

The other observation is that your form factor is taller than mine. I have no experience with anything other than the form factor I've used since my first "camembrie," but I wonder if the height is going to make it harder for it to get gooey all the way to the center before it gets overripe on the edges. I'll be interested to hear how yours develops to see if that thought is correct.

[rgreenberg2000]

Andy, I did use heavy cream (and a bit less milk than you), so we'll see what that does.  As for the form factor, I really only wanted to make two rounds, so I was a bit stuck with these guys being a bit tall.  Next time, I'll reduce my milk volume accordingly to shoot for a better diameter to height ratio.

Every cheese is an adventure!

R

[awakephd]

Always!