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Mal,

I must admit to being surprised at the lack of mould growth on your cheeses. It sounds like you are doing everything right to me. Lack of mould is usually caused by:

• Low Temp - 15C is fine
• Low humidity - your method sounds fine. Some forum members also reccommend a damp cloth in the container to give more surface area for moisture evaporation
  
• Insufficient mould - I assume you added mould at the pre-ripening stage? How much? I usually add about 1/10th teaspoon.
• Mould not viable - How old is your mould and how do you store it?

I would not give up yet. Do you have any mould growth at all? Maybe you just have the short, slow growing Geo and your PC is not viable?  You could try mixing some boiled, cooled water with a little PC and spraying it onto the cheese and maturing longer. The only real issue with maturing longer at 15C is the cheese will ripen a little quicker, but otherwise, it is not a problem. Maybe you can get some new PC or even rub your cheeses with a fresh bought camembert and store it in the container with your cheese?

I'm thinking pretty laterally here, so these ideas might be a bit crazy, but I think worth a try. You have put so much effort into these cheeses already, it would be a shame to give up now.  Post a photo if possible.

Hi Bob..
•Low Temp - 15C is fine
I did some cave maintenance and defrosted the back and added flat shelves over the bottle holders.

•Low humidity - your method sounds fine. Some forum members also reccommend a damp cloth in the container to give more surface area for moisture evaporation
There is always some condensation inside the maturing boxes so I presume they are moist enough.

•Insufficient mould - I assume you added mould at the pre-ripening stage? How much? I usually add about 1/10th teaspoon.
The packet directions said to divide packet contents evenly and there is enough for 100 Litres of milk which worked out to 1/64th of a teaspoon.  I'm thinking that is insufficient

•Mould not viable - How old is your mould and how do you store it?
The moulds are only 3 months old and I keep them in the freezer.

Mal,

They still look really good! There seems to be some growth on them, not the longer PC that I see, but possibly mostly Geo, which will make for a very unique style of Cam. There are good examples, both locally and in France of styles using primarly Geo. (It is a lot more temperamental and maturing conditions are harder to get right). 

I use the same maturing containers and they look just the same, a small amount of condensation on the lids. Recipes usually say the amount of PC you add is not important, but I do make sure there is sufficient and I add it to the brine as well.

I would keep persisting, the cheeses look fine. When you think there is enough mould, place in the 4C fridge. You could even experimemt with some of them, placing in the fridge at different times.

Nice cheese cave!  Unusual place to store your toothbrush though!

Opps... Well really though I was using the toothbrush for some cheese Maintenance.  I had developed a load of blue on a drying Colby before waxing so I thought it might as well stay there ... I wouldn't fancy using it as a toothbrush after that   

I'll persevere with them this time, this time I'll only wrap two and leave the other free ball.  Made a Manchego today but I'll start a new post for that one..  There are few observations that I would like to pass on..

We'll keep this thread going as I'm keen to see where your go compared to mine. Post images when you are able.  On the P.C. front I'm going to quiz my supplier on the batches and if anyone else has experience the 'slow growth' .  Time to flip the 'Man' !!

-- Mal 

OK Mal, good luck with the cams.

Here are some photos of my 5/11 cams when I wrapped them last Friday. You can see how thick my mould is by the impressions on the mould, from my fingers picking up the cheese. These cheeses all turned out at 200g, +/- 6g so pretty pleased with that. I'm hoping they don't mature too fast now, being thinner than my usual cams.

I will also post some photos of my earlier cams, did some tasting today. (See my post started 17/9..."Making Cams today")

After being away for 2 weeks the grand USofA I returned to the Land of Oz and to my humble home and unattended cheese cave.  There was trepidation and concern on my wife''s face as she peered in, not game to open it.  Before I left I had just finished a weeks air drying of a Caerphilly and Manchegos of varing ages. But the cheeses I was most anxious to see was these cams and alas, the same firm result as the last attempts.  These haven't been wrapped and just left in the maturing boxes for th entire time. The smell was mushroomy and no ammoniation but, the cheese was firm and I mean FIRM.  I took one out and let it achieve room temperature and then cut it open. It did have a nice and complete rind but the paste inside was white and firm with no sign of ozzyiness.  The taste was creamy and a little bit bitter.  And it went to the bin and so did my dream of Christmas Cams . . .   Any one have any ideas ?
I still have 3 of the batch in containers . . . Do I keep them or do I give it up as a bad cheese and try again.

-- Mal

Hey Mal, welcome back! You're not having much luck with your cams are you mate.

Can you post some pics of the cut cheese? My thermo cams remain firm for a long time, in fact I have one from the 17th September (yes..... thats now 16 weeks old!) that has just softened, but of course the rind has started to bereak down too much. I think I stirred that one too much  ;)Thats the

But your recipe was definitley a meso wasn't it?  I am still suspicious of your moulds, which must be active to asisst with the ripening through to the centre. You should at least see some  softening under the rind?

Anyway, my 5/11 cams are doing quite nicely. Cut one 2 weeks ago, not soft all the way through at that stage, still has a firm centre section. I'll post some photos of the next one I cut tomorrow.

Hi Mal,

As Bob says, thermo cams don't really go soft and runny the way the meso ones do.  It's been about a year since I've made cams, but when I did they were thermo ones and the only one that went soft was a large flat one that I aged for a couple months.  By that point, however, it was only good for a very short period and then went bitter and eventually became inedible. 

- Jeff

Yeah the Culture was Meso and I'm also on the path to getting another batch as I think to only mold active is teh G.C but not being a mirco biologist I can't tell.  While they still appear white and don't start acting up I'll keep them in their maturing boxes.  I'm not giving up on these just yet.  Merry Christmas to all and  cheesy new year !! 

-- Mal

Hi Mal,

Hmmm, if you think it's your mold, you could try harvesting some from a bought cam.  I saw on one of your other posts you bought some cam for Christams.  Ok, take a wedge that you would put on a cracker.  Carefully remove the white rind, without taking any of the cheese.  Put the mold in a sterlised glass with some warm water (say, 25 C) and bash it about with a sterilised fork.  Mash it about until the water is cloudy.  Remove any solid bits of the rind that are floating in the water.  Pour that in with your starter.  This is what I've always done to get PC going on my cheese as I don't make them enough to bother keeping mold in the freezer.  It's never failed to grow, and it ripens the cheese nicely.  If you keep some of the cloudy water in a mister, you could spray your cheeses with it as well.

- Jeff

who makes those Awesome ripping containers Ozzie!? They look like a vast improvement over my home made junk!

The ripening containers are a 'Decor' brand.  They make Our supermarket chain 'Coles' stocks them, I'm unsure what is available in the USA.  Here is their web site http://decor.com.au/

@ Jeff Sorry but the bought Cam was eaten with much gusto, but I will try your method on another.

For ripening containers in the USA try http://www.containerstore.com/ecatalog/index.htm

The Decor web site lists them as U.S distributor.  I couldn't find the items in their catalog so you might have to call them..

-- Mal