Camembert Disaster!

[kieran]

Hi all,

I bought a Country Brewer cheese making kit. After spending $18 on 7 litres of Biodynamic milk (feeling cocky that I'd get it right the first time, obviously) I have had an absoutely awful first cheese making experience.
Everything went fine until it came to ageing. I followed the kit instructions, so I would really appreciate if anybody could help me. I put my four cheeses, wrapped up, in the plastic container that the kit provides. I sealed it, like instructed, and kept it at 10-15C for 4 weeks. Well I think the plastic container got the environment too humid (or the cheese didn't dry out enough) and the cheese started to smell a bit.

What happened next, I can't really say I've ever seen on cheese. No amount of google searching has helped either.

Some LIGHT PINK type stuff was on it, amongst the furry yeast that normally should be there. This was present especially on the top and bottom edges.. The colour is almost the same as the writing back there. It smelt strong, the inside was still creamy, but the colour and the smell isn't right at all. Myself, wife and 2 year old daughter are still alive after sampling a very small amount. It was very strong, not at all like any camembert I've ever tasted.. so I threw it all out.

Can anyone tell me how that colouration happened? Was it due to too much moisture? Does the cheese need to "Breathe" more? The surface of the cheese was moist, and if you touched it, almost slimy. Is it bacteria, or some other yeast? How do you get your cheese-ageing environment dry? I find it difficult at 10-15C.

Any help would be much appreciated!

thanks heaps,
Kieran
P.S. Next time I will try with el-cheapo Aldi full cream milk.

 

[AndrewQLD]

Sounds like a wild mold, it's possible the humidity was too high. Try again but keep the humidity lower by leaving the lid open a crack. if you see droplets of condensation forming inside the wrap you know it's too humid.

Andrew

 

[kieran]

Thanks for the tip Andrew, I can't think of anything else it might be. I've never seen pink mould before though..
I might have to think up some way of controlling the humidity better, definitely start by having the lid ajar!! it was incredibly damp (even when I was mopping out the excess moisture buildup).

Kieran