So, having made a good number of Camembert type cheeses, I blithely assumed a cambozola would be a piece of cake. Hahaha. In looking at old posts I see cambozola is a holy grail for some people. Well here is a picture of my so called cambozola! It has just the merest sliver of blue. I made a traditional Camembert sized and a crottin sized cheese. The picture is of the little one, I haven't cut open the bigger one yet but suspect it will be the same. It does smell and taste faintly of blue. Quite pleasant really, but not the effect I was going for. All the recipes I've read called for just a bare dusting of blue mold between the layers of curds. I think, like posters before me, that most of it washed out with the whey. so I made another batch and I added a 1/16 tsp. of mold between curd layers of both cam sized cheeses this time. Overkill? Now I am wondering if it is bad to have the P. roqueforti growing on the outside of the cheese? If so, what should I do about it? Any advice?
Dinerdish
P.Roq strain is important. I have PJ strain and getting similar results for blue cheeses. Also you need to poke a couple of times for P.Roq to breath.
Tan
Uh, I just pulled my P. Roqueforti powder out of the freezer to see what strain it is (PV) and noticed this little tidbit, " dissolve this amount (1/32nd to 1/16th tsp) in 1/4 cup clean water and then mix it well into your warmed milk." :-\ I've been sprinkling it onto the curds as is. I wonder if this is the problem. Does it need to be activated somehow? Or would a different strain work better for Cambozola? In any case, I dumped a whole lot of it into this last batch so that should settle the more is better theory. I did pierce it a bunch, vertically and horizontally.
Dinerdish
I haven't done a cambozola, but while making a different blue I put the mold in with the milk and most ended up in the whey. I'm sure some remained in the curds, but since then I've sprinkled as you did. Enough moisture remains in the curd to rehydrate it.
This is a tough one, Diner--made it several times with the same effect of blue not shining through. At one point, I actually thought I had labeled it wrong because there was no blue at all. Several possible causes here (in retrospect)--the p.candidcum covers the cheese and doesn't allow the roquefort to grow; and roquefort needs air to breathe, so needs to be taken out of the cave at regular intervals with the top off. I haven't made this one lately, as I've ventured on to the blues with extra cream that are like butter (and sans the p.candidum). Much better tasting to my palate.
I have made cambozola and had the washed out PR (p. roqueforti) effect. I started predraining my curds and layered them into the cam moulds and liberally sprinkled the PR as a layer in between the curds. I finally had a good batch when I cut it open. But, it wasn't as pronounced as I thought it would be. I have never had good luck with piercing the cheeses. The PR never travels along the vein. Maybe the suggestion to take the cheeses out to breathe would be a good idea.
Bonnie