Brie on Brie

[Brie]

Okay--I have been waiting 6 months for this cheese to be the Brie that I love. The taste is there, but the paste is not runny, as it should be. Used 50/30 whole raw milk to whole raw cream. Did not innoculate milk with P.Candidum. It took 3 days to drain. Finally, sprayed with P.Candidum--4 times during two weeks to form white bloom. As you will note, it is ashed. It's not funny--my Brie is not runny. What happened?

[Alex]

6M is a very long time to age Brie. In what conditions did it age? Did you wrap it? May you overdried the cheese at the beginning. I make lactic cheeses in similar way, after 3-4 M they are dry and have sharp taste.

[Brie]

Yes, but it is not dry--very smooth and creamy; yet not gooey. The taste is classic brie. Where did the goo go?

[linuxboy]

What was the fat of the milk and moisture of the curd? Also, what size is that wheel? Doesn't look like a standard brie size.

[Brie]

I used 1 gallon Raw Organic Milk that registered at 3.5%--then added 1 gallon raw organic cream. This was one heavy cheese! It is 2.25" high in a normal cam mold and refused to relase any more whey. Was it the extra fat content?

[linuxboy]

So you made a triple cream+ cheese that's twice the height of a normal cam? Bries run because of proteolysis, meaning proteins break down from the enzymes that the p candidum releases. If the PF ratio is not according to traditional makes, they won't run, the fat keeps it too stable due to fat agglomeration, even with lypolysis. You'll get more of a cream cheese with candidum qualities that spreads well when the fat content is that high. Is that what you have? Cream cheese that tastes like brie, right?

[Brie]

Thanks for replying, Linux. No, the paste is firmer than cream cheese--quite like a camembert that has not ripened enough. Almost like butter. No ammonia smell--it seems it stabilized somehow through the ripening process and refuses to move on. I have three more that I have not cut--should I let them go on and test later?

[linuxboy]

Ah, got it, then like a cream cheese that's had water evaporate from it for 6 months

This cheese is pretty much done, the fat has stabilized it. You can eat it or cook with it. I bet it would make a lovely addition to a sauce or would be great slivered in some pasta with a little truffle oil.