First Time Making Cheese

[Zimm9]

A friend asked for a photo of my Camembert batch and I thought I'd share it here. I've never made cheese before so I'm paranoid it isn't going to turn out right. So far it -looks- like it's developing as it should, though.

I'm hosting Christmas this year and have been trying to prepare for it. I've probably waited too long to try another cheese and have it ready in time. Any ideas or quick recipes? A couple on cheesemaking.com have caught my attention: Belper Knolle and Butterkase.

 

[passedpawn]

Looks like you've got a nice layer of PC on the outside of those. In my experience you should get them into the normal fridge right away or they will over-ferment on the inside and get too runny and smell a bit like ammonia when cut.

You could easily have blue cheese ready by Christmas if you get started right now. No press needed.

 

[Zimm9]

Thanks for the advice! If I recall, they're sitting at around 48F and 87% humidity, 2.5 weeks into the process. Do you think that's OK or do I have the temp and/or humidity wrong? The recipe I've been following gets a little vague toward the end.

Blue cheese is a great idea. It's not one that I would eat but several in my family like it.

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks for the advice! If I recall, they're sitting at around 48F and 87% humidity, 2.5 weeks into the process. Do you think that's OK or do I have the temp and/or humidity wrong? The recipe I've been following gets a little vague toward the end.

Blue cheese is a great idea. It's not one that I would eat but several in my family like it.

I think I've done my camembert around 50 or 55. Humidity is clearly OK or you wouldn't have that nice growth there. I use these little plastic cases that I built to keep the humidity just right (I think). I'll see if I can find some pics.

As soon as they get the fine white mold, I've put them in the 32F fridge. I've made camembert a bunch of times.

 

[Kent88]

sub'd, carry on

 

[passedpawn]

That blue material is from a craft store. It's plastic mesh used for embroidery or knitting or something. Under it is white plastic flourescnt light diffuser (cut from a 2x4 sheet I got from home depot). Yours looks perfect, so you might be reluctant to change your process, but if you have other cheeses in there you'll probably get PC on them, and keeping them in their own container is best. Also, they sorta naturally maintain a perfect humidity when contained like that. I think I've got the same wireless temp/humidity gadget as you.

 

[passedpawn]

Cotswold is also a great soft cheese that is pretty tasty in a short time. It's got chives and onions in it. It's a pub cheese in England. I love the stuff and made a huge wheel of it one time (my dog ended up eating most of it though).

 

[Zimm9]

I'm so new to this that I don't have a "process" yet! lol Thanks for posting the pics. I've read of people using containers to control the environment, but you make a great point about it preventing cross-contamination. That will be a necessity when I have more than one type of cheese going. Thanks also for the info about using craft supplies etc to create the raised platform - probably a lot cheaper option than buying the "drying mats" from a cheese shop. When I get home tonight I'll drop the temp in the mini fridge to get by until I can get some containers. The temp/humidity thing I have in there is just the remote sensor for a thermometer I bought at Lowes.

I'll see if I can find a cotswold recipe. Dog approved!

 

[passedpawn]

Here's a couple of my camembert threads on this forum with some pics and info. Maybe you'll see something useful there.

Camembert Cheeses in progress
Oyster Mushroom Infused Camembert Cheese

 

[Zimm9]

Great! Thanks for all your help, passedpawn!

Edit: Just read through those two threads and even more excellent info there.

 

[bernardsmith]

Slightly off the point, Zimm9, but there is a fabulously easy cheese to make - called , I think, quick cheddar curd cheese and it takes about two hours to make and is eaten fresh (no aging) but it involves cheddaring ( a way of pressing the cheese to expel whey). I make this almost every week. The recipe I use comes from the interweb and was published by a really good teacher of cheese making Gianaclis Caldwell
https://gianacliscaldwell.com/2015/08/31/fresh-squeaky-cheddar-curds-in-about-two-hours/

 

[Zimm9]

Thanks, @bernardsmith ! That recipe is perfect for this weekend. I have a gallon of milk and some buttermilk I really need to find a use for before it's too late. Might even give it a go this evening after work.

 

[bernardsmith]

I make my own kefir and use the kefir to inoculate the milk. Kefir has both thermo and mesophilic cultures.

 

[Zimm9]

I think my camemberts are in trouble. They're drying out and hard. The humidity has been near 80%, but maybe that's too low. Tonight I'm going to pick up some containers like passedpawn posted and try another batch. Will it have enough time to ripen and be ready for xmas, though? Any ideas to save the batch I have?

 

[Zimm9]

I finally got brave enough to try cutting one of the wheels. Knife got halfway into the middle and the whole wheel cracked in half! I stubbornly heated a bit in the microwave and that got it a little gooey, briefly. Did some research and what I could find everyone says there's no hope to save them. Oh well...

I started a new batch today, armed with experience and more equipment. I have containers but forgot when I was at Lowes earlier to look for the fluorescent light screen to give them some elevation so I'll head back there tomorrow.

 

[passedpawn]

Ouch! My first failure was almost the opposite of that. Mine got too creamy.