a fine Camembert!

[Dinerdish]

 I have to say, I'm pretty pleased with this one. 

Dinerdish

[mtncheesemaker]

Congratulations! Looks good.

[tnbquilt]

That is lovely! A work of art

[smilingcalico]

That looks perfect! Clearly you had great patience to wait till it was ready.

[Bishop]

Love the pineapple pattern on the PC

[CheeseSnipe]

That looks like the model to strive for! Congrats. I'm going to have to keep at it. I'm on batch #4.

[Brie]

Looks great, Diner! How does it taste? How many weeks affinage is this?

[Dinerdish]

Ah shucks guys. Thanks for the compliments.

It tastes yummy! This cheese spent 3 weeks in the cheese fridge at 52 F, in a ripening box. Then wrapped loosely in cheese paper and almost 3 weeks in the regular household fridge.

Brie, I've seen your posts about patting down the mold and not wrapping. I like to keep the majority of my cheeses in the regular fridge so I worry about drying out. But I wrap pretty loosely. They wouldn't fit into the traditional wooden box. I haven't noticed an ammonia buld up. You had a picture of your Camembert with a really gnarly rind! Do all your patted down cheeses come out like that? how does that rind taste?

Dinerdish

[Brie]

Diner_-You can either pat the rind or wrap in appropriate (breatheable) paper. Either way, it does need to continue to have high humidty. It's easier for me to keep them in their humidified ripening container-I pat them down to alleviate slip-skin. If you do choose to wrap, continue to keep humidity high. As for the "gnarly rind"--this is what Cam/Brie evolves to after aging for 9 weeks. The b.linens combine with the rest of the cultures and add another dimension. True Brie.

[Dinerdish]

Interesting.... Do you add b. linens intentionally or is it ambient where you age your cheeses? You make more than camembert types, right?  And if you do add it, when and how? I've been reading posts about which cheese creatures prevail over which other cheese creatures under which specific humidities and temperatures, so how does (do) b. linens play with PC or Geo?

Boy, the more you find out, the more you realize there is to find out!

Dinerdish

[Brie]

I don't add b.linens to Cam or Brie--just Geo and P. Candidum--I believe the b.linens come about naturally in the aging processes for these cheeses. Geo makes a nice playground for b.linen growth with cheeses such as Reblochon, Muenster, and Morbier.