Hi all. Another iso newbie here. Loving the forum.
Second attempt at Camembert, and this lot have started sweating (not sure if this is the right term?) in their wrap, and I was wondering if they will be OK, or if I should intervene in some way?
The batch went into the wine fridge at 11degC and were wrapped and put in the normal fridge after 14 days. The baby sized one in the picture was sacrificed for QA purposes before wrapping. It had some slip skin, and was a bit bitey on the palate, but otherwise seemed OK for how young it was.
The wrap is a cellophane cheese wrap. There was visible condensation on the ripening box right up until wrapping, so I suspect I just didn't let it dry out enough before wrapping?
I don't think that's the best wrap for actually aging these cheeses. Look for the white double layer cheese paper that is specifically for aging bloomies. Even then, there are so many out there and some are better than others so you may have to trial a few more to find the best. Find a cheese supply company that sells to commercial producers and ask what the best one is.
The wrap looks like it won't allow gas exchange or moisture exchange. I would buy some dedicated for soft cheeses. There is some excellent ageing advice in this thread, post #3.
https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13484.0.html (https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13484.0.html)
Because I'm cheap, I actually wrap using silicon baking paper and then wrap again with plastic wrap. I unwrap it every week or so to exchange the gas. I find this works amazingly well. I even use the technique for my hard cheeses after I cut them. I keep them in the normal fridge and they continue to age slowly and gracefully pretty much forever. It *is* important to rewrap them fairly frequently, though (as I said, about once a week seems to be a good sweet spot).
Thanks for the advice all. That makes perfect sense.
These cellophane wraps are marketed for Camembert, but probably not the right choice for that particular job.
I'll go for the good double layer ones next go, get the technique right, then try and go cheap:)
Thanks again.
mike, by silicon baking paper, are you referring to what is also called parchment paper? Usually brown or white, opaque, thin and a bit waxy?
Yes, I believe so. I should start calling it that. In Japan, they call it "baking paper", but I knew that this is not what people call it in English. Basically, it's the paper you use in the oven for baking. I've had such good success with it, it's not funny. I originally started using it because I couldn't find wax paper here. My parents came to visit me last year and brought be some wax paper. Not even close. The parchment paper seems to hold just the right amount of moisture. But you have to wrap that in plastic wrap as well. I have no idea why it works so well. In theory, it really shouldn't.
Thank you! My overseas order is getting unwieldy and it's great to have a DIY option of something they actually sell here if the wrap I've ordered doesn't work. I know you feel my pain :)
Sometimes the English speaking world can be a funny thing. Turns out that it's actually called baking paper here in Aus. Should have pinged straight away, but the silicone reference threw me off, I had a dumb notion ours was wax based (because of course, wax wouldn't melt or burn in an oven