HI -
So I have no idea why some batches of Brie have a more runny consistency at Room Temp then others. I've read age but i opened one I made 4 months ago and it was solid creamy and never got runny at room temp. The ones i made more recent run at room temp.....could it be how dry they were when they went to age? Or salt? or how cut the curd was?
That being said I'm not a runny Brie fan I want to be able to cut it and put it back in the fridge.
Thoughts?
Did you track the pH of your make? If I remember this right, the lower the acidity level prior to aging, the runnier your cheese becomes after aging.
It is more complicated than I completely understand , but the big one is moisture left in the curd before salting .
Much too much and you get slip skin , a little too much an it seems to me the curd is just more runny .
And this is mostly controlled with Flock multiplier , or at least that is where it starts, then how much of that moisture is removed before molding and during molding .
With my lactic acid set I control it with how I scoop it into molds, as there is no cutting ,stirring , heating .
I can not say for sure if final ph plays a roll or not , but .
My charouce is always bottomed out at ph 4.4 or so and yet the wet ones end up runny or even slip skin , and if I get them dry enough they are firm and will age out to a grating cheese instead of a runny mess.
Thanks. Can you guys share your recipe or source? My first was solid but creamy with a thin skin. The other thin skin and runny
There are a couple of things that might be going on here. Slip skin is typically caused by the outside pH of the cheese raising too quickly - usually due to temperature (the moulds work faster). This can be arrested by lowering the maturing temp and moving the cheeses into the colder fridge earlier - I move mine in about 7-10 days depending on the white mold covering.
the soft but not gooey (runny) is probably due to the cream content. A large cream content stabilises the curd, mainly due to the large amount of calcium concentration. Nothing wrong with that!! The thin skin is a good thing to aim for as too thinker a skin is a bit unpalatable and rubbery to eat.
-- Mal
Thanks! Seems it's best to find what you like and make it happen. My latest went in a regular fridge at 10 days with a full coat of white fuzz.