Cheese Troubleshoot

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ibast

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So I cut my first Camembert the other day and three things I notice:

- The crust was a bit tough (I can live with this but the fact may help the diagnosis)
- The "outside" for the core was runny. Like a thick yogurt
- The centre of the core was still pretty firm, like fetta.

So what's wrong?

I imagine it needs more time to get the centre ripe, but surely the outside of the core is not going to get any firmer.

Have I matured at too high a temp?

Things that may have impacted:

- The curds didn't seem very firm to me as I was making it. There is no way I could have stirred as much as the instructions indicted without turning is into pulp.
- I pressed the cheese lightly (couple of tin cans) to speed up the whey draining.

Please help
 
Hi ibast,

some pointers:

tough rind may be a sign of too much mould development or too dry an atmosphere, or perhaps over-brining. was it too salty? I wrap mine in foil or a cheese wrap (from cheese links) as soon as it is well and evenly coated.

The runny outside core is normal, and genuine camembert style cheeses are runny. however they should not be too runny, and ideally would have a similar consistency throughout and not a chalky center. I find mine have occasionally come out too runny when I did not ripen the curds enough and they still probably contained too much whey.
You also need to ripen them at an even temperature of ~11-12 degrees. Too warm and they may ripen too fast on the outside while the inside remains firm.

I don't know whether you suspect any of these may help but I hope they do.
Cheers,
MFS

Edit:

P.S. Don't press the curds. At the beginning you need to stir them EXTREMELY gently with your hands. If they're too brittle or soggy you have not ripened enough after adding the rennet.
 
Thanks. A couple of things there seem to fit my problem

so rippen the curds more and check my maturation temp.

and I'll try not pressing next time.

Thanks again.
 
Genuine French Camembert is made filling the hoops with the curd without even cutting the curd... but that's never worked for me.

Good luck!

M
 

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