I wrapped my first ever Camembert yesterday. After a couple of weeks in a bar fridge at 12C it had a nice coating that I patted down before wrapping. This afternoon when I checked on it there seemed to be a thin layer of moisture underneath the wrapper. Is this a problem? If so how do I fix it?
Also, once wrapped is it best to keep it in a cooler fridge? Or keep it at the 12C?
This is not a situation I've encountered with camemebert. It may not be a problem but it does sound a little doubtful.
It may be worth unwrapping for a while just to be on the safe side. That won't hurt. My last ones weren't wrapped until about 5 weeks and I have read of people not wrapping them at all.
I tend to leave them at about 13C but with the last make I kept one at 13C and moved the other to 3C so that they ripened at different rates.
I Took a couple of photos, but it's hard to focus on the moisture properly so I'm not sure if you'll be able to see it clearly.
I tried unwrapping for a couple of days and thought it had dried more so re wrapped and more moisture appeared.
They look to be fairly tall for a Camembert, which may be part of the problem. Getting them to ripen evenly in the middle may also be an issue.
Otherwise they look pretty good.
yeah, I thought they were a bit tall, but I followed the recipe I was given to the letter so thought it should be ok. I guess I'll just see how they go!
As suggested in one of the other posts, I would move some of them to a cooler fridge to ripen more evenly.
will do. thanks for the advice :D
Hi Alex,
Ummm without dissuading you at all but there a couple of things to address. The cheeses are a bit tall to ripen all the way through before the outside starts to over ripen. The following is my last make with Pics
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13412.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13412.0.html)
The other is the paper - it looks like cellophane more than a chesse paper I'm familiar with. The following is a link to where I get my cheese wrap
http://www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au/cheeseaccessories_cheesewrap.html (http://www.greenlivingaustralia.com.au/cheeseaccessories_cheesewrap.html)
The reason you are getting moisture build up is the process by which the white mould works is by converting the Lastase (not lactose) in the cheese and this creates water as a byproduct and the papar you have there is not allowing the cheese to breath.
Hope that helps.
Quote from: OzzieCheese on November 20, 2014, 04:46:49 AM
The other is the paper - it looks like cellophane more than a chesse paper I'm familiar with.
It does look like cellophane and it may well be the cellophane cheese wraps from this source: http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/products/Cellophane-Cheese-Wraps-x-40.html (http://www.countrybrewer.com.au/products/Cellophane-Cheese-Wraps-x-40.html)
It may be a cause of the problem but I have used these without encountering the same problem. Of course, the humidity is lower here in Adelaide than it is in Darwin.
If the sheets Alex is using, are micro perforated and still wet inside I would theorise
1. that the moisture exuding from the cheese is being produced faster than the pores in the paper can handle or
2.Seeing also that the cheese also look quite a size, the mould is producing water faster than can be passed through the paper.
- just a guess :)
--Mal
thanks all for the help.
The wrappers were from the Country Brewer (well spotted!).
I have come to accept that this batch isnt going to ripen properly due to their height, but have placed them in the fridge to ripen more slowly in the hope that something good comes from them. If not, at least I know what I did wrong and can rectify next time! :)
Funny you should say that you hope something good comes from them. If you keep them in the colder fridge for a while longer you will end up with something like a large edition of chaource ... still firm in the middle.
-- Mal
Quote from: alex__kennedy on November 15, 2014, 02:27:54 AM
I Took a couple of photos,
Clearly the problem is that you're aging them upside down. (Er... is that a southern hemisphere thing?)
Anyhoo, I'm at day 3 and my camembert are still giving up whey. They are about the same diameter, but half the height, as yours. Good luck with yours.