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My Camemberts are 10 days old. After the make, they were dried for about 1-1/2 days in the house, ~61F, with a fan. Then into a ripening box in a 55F cave with lid ajar to manage humidity then a day ago with closed lid. White mold seemed to be going ok, until it tapered off and became spotty, with tinges of darker rind appearing (orange-ish? brown-ish?) in areas without white mold. They are pretty stinky.

From what I've read, there were many opportunities for them to catch b.linens.

What I'm wondering is:
- Is it b.linens?
- If so, is there anything I can do now to stop it and restablish white mold development? Or should I just let them be?
- If it's not b.linens, any idea what it is?

Thanks for any insight or suggestions.

It's really hard to tell.  There are a lot of bacteria in the same family as b. linens and they all tend to have slightly different colours.  So your can go from tan coloured all the way to bright pink (with various tones of orange or red in between).  If it smells like sweaty socks, then it almost certainly is something in that family.  Once your rind gets to a pH of about 5.8, if you have a high humidity, it will be bound to show up.  I notice your box is pretty wet.  If your bamboo mat is also damp, then I would say this is pretty much certain.

The best way is to dry it off.  Take the cheeses out for a couple of hours (flip them every 30 minutes or so) to evaporate some of the surface moisture.  Wipe out the box so it is completely dry.  Potentially swap out the bamboo mat for a dry one.  Then from there, every day, wipe out the box to remove moisture.  You may have to take the cheeses out for a bit if you live in a humid area.  Remember that relative humidity *goes up* as the temperature drops.  So if it is 60% humid at 21 degrees, it will probably be 100% humid at 4 degrees.  If you can't manage the humidity just by wiping out the box every day, then I would recommend upping the temp a few degrees if you can (or moving them back to the cheese cave).  The PC may grow back or may not, but I wouldn't worry.  The b. linens will just add complexity to the cheese.  It will still be delicious.

Thanks. I just took them out of the box. Turns out they aren't as stinky as I thought, and in fact just smell like...Camembert! Sort of an ammonia smell if I had to choose one (although I associate ammonia smell with a very ripe Cam). They actually don't seem moist. I just blotted them with a paper towel and there was  no moisture. I'll let them sit out a few hours nonetheless. Unfortunately, I don't have a pH meter (yet).

If white mold never covers the cheeses, how do I know when to wrap and move to kitchen fridge?

I'm wondering how with my next make (in a few days maybe) I can get better white mold development (when I made Cams last year I had a similar problem). Maybe I should increase the amount of PC. This time, for a gallon of non-homogenized milk + 1/4 pint heavy cream I used 1/16 tsp PC and 1/64 tsp Geo.

Also, I've seen some recipes that say to dry before putting in box (which is what I did), and others that say put in box right after draining.

I should say that another hobby I have is baking sourdough bread regularly, although I do not prep a starter or dough, or bake, on days I make/drain a cheese. But I wonder if whatever is in the air could be affecting the cheese. Maybe I should try draining and drying in a room far away from the kitchen.

So many variables; I don't know where to start!

So many variables, indeed, and many of them either unpredictable, beyond our control, or both.  That's the fun of cheesemaking, right?

I've made about 6 or 7 cam/bries, and haven't cracked the success nut, so I can't offer any good advice (although I've had good luck with ash).

Making sourdough (me too, my 9 month starter just  crashed   ) might have some effect, since 'wild' yeasts apparently change the pH and 'prepare' the surface for the PC and GC.

Two pieces of advice that I'm pretty certain of: there's no reason to increase the amounts of PC or Geo.  There's plenty in just the tiny amounts we use for small batches.  Second, if you haven't already, I would wrap & refrigerate your cheeses now.  Good things happen slowly in the fridge, bad things happen rapidly outside of it (for these cheeses IME)

As mikekchar said, it will probably be delicious!



-Lance