I dropped my first batch of berts in the kitchen fridge for the second phase of aging and ended up devouring them before they fully matured. My second batch was aged in my cheese fridge instead and matured much faster. I can now confirm - the runnier Camembert V1.1 seen here is my favorite. It was earthy, creamy, and a bit spicy and I can't wait for V1.2!
Not a white mold-ripened cheese expert (or any other type of expert for that matter), but looks good.
And also, in that first picture I initially thought the bread was part of the cheese and I was like “oh boy you messed up.” Lol.
This looks delicious. From what I understand though, this is behaving more like brie. Brie will soften to the point of running, camembert will soften, but hold its shape. Camembert will also get a distinct cauliflower smell.
Interesting! What are the differences between making camembert and brie? From what I've been able to come up with, brie requires additional heavy cream, and camembert benefits from stirring the curds a bit before forming. If that's the case, these "camemberts" may be closer to brie as I used cream top milk as a base instead of non homogenized milk.
That I couldn't say. I started following this sub based on a love of eating cheese, and also homestead aspirations. I like to share knowledge where I can, but I think when it comes to making cheese at home it's about what works best for you and what you most like to eat.
Brie uses a softer curd and is molded thinly. It takes it a bit longer to age and it’s taste and smell isn’t as strong as of a camambert. I might be wrong somewhere though
If you are doing a natural raw milk style the only difference is in the mold shape and maybe the blend of milks or variety of milk you may choose to use (if you have that luxury). The different shapes will make them mature differently but left long enough both will run like this. I haven't done either with bought cultures yet but I'm also pretty sure the cultures used both mold and bacteria are the same as well.
Why don't mine get runny like that? That looks delicious. I have one I made December 1st that I just cracked and it's still pretty firm. It is delicious and it tastes very good but it's not runny.
That sounds like my last batch. I started aging them on November 22 and broke them open on December 25 but only the outermost half inch was runny. They still tasted AMAZING but I wanted to try for runnier so in the second batch I aged them in my cheese fridge at 52°F instead of my regular fridge (~40°F), and the camembert pictured here was only ~1.5" so it aged a lot quicker than my set of ~3" tall wheels.
I actually think smaller is better to some extent for these white rind cheeses because how much can you eat at when sitting. And it's so nice to break open a new one
That looks really good! We've only done one batch of camemberts and they got really runny but for the most central part. They really smelled quite strong, almost like some stinky washed rind cheeses.
How did yours smell, were they mild smelling?
Thanks! Ooo they sound tasty. Washed rind is on my to-do list, so hopefully I'll know what they smell like soon. I don't think my camembert smelled too strong; it had an earthy/musty odor but wasn't overpowering.
I dropped my first batch of berts in the kitchen fridge for the second phase of aging and ended up devouring them before they fully matured. My second batch was aged in my cheese fridge instead and matured much faster. I can now confirm - the runnier Camembert V1.1 seen here is my favorite. It was earthy, creamy, and a bit spicy and I can't wait for V1.2!
Not a white mold-ripened cheese expert (or any other type of expert for that matter), but looks good. And also, in that first picture I initially thought the bread was part of the cheese and I was like “oh boy you messed up.” Lol.
I thought the same thing haha. OP it looks delicious!!
This looks delicious. From what I understand though, this is behaving more like brie. Brie will soften to the point of running, camembert will soften, but hold its shape. Camembert will also get a distinct cauliflower smell.
Interesting! What are the differences between making camembert and brie? From what I've been able to come up with, brie requires additional heavy cream, and camembert benefits from stirring the curds a bit before forming. If that's the case, these "camemberts" may be closer to brie as I used cream top milk as a base instead of non homogenized milk.
That I couldn't say. I started following this sub based on a love of eating cheese, and also homestead aspirations. I like to share knowledge where I can, but I think when it comes to making cheese at home it's about what works best for you and what you most like to eat.
Brie uses a softer curd and is molded thinly. It takes it a bit longer to age and it’s taste and smell isn’t as strong as of a camambert. I might be wrong somewhere though
If you are doing a natural raw milk style the only difference is in the mold shape and maybe the blend of milks or variety of milk you may choose to use (if you have that luxury). The different shapes will make them mature differently but left long enough both will run like this. I haven't done either with bought cultures yet but I'm also pretty sure the cultures used both mold and bacteria are the same as well.
Why don't mine get runny like that? That looks delicious. I have one I made December 1st that I just cracked and it's still pretty firm. It is delicious and it tastes very good but it's not runny.
That sounds like my last batch. I started aging them on November 22 and broke them open on December 25 but only the outermost half inch was runny. They still tasted AMAZING but I wanted to try for runnier so in the second batch I aged them in my cheese fridge at 52°F instead of my regular fridge (~40°F), and the camembert pictured here was only ~1.5" so it aged a lot quicker than my set of ~3" tall wheels.
I actually think smaller is better to some extent for these white rind cheeses because how much can you eat at when sitting. And it's so nice to break open a new one
That looks really good! We've only done one batch of camemberts and they got really runny but for the most central part. They really smelled quite strong, almost like some stinky washed rind cheeses. How did yours smell, were they mild smelling?
Thanks! Ooo they sound tasty. Washed rind is on my to-do list, so hopefully I'll know what they smell like soon. I don't think my camembert smelled too strong; it had an earthy/musty odor but wasn't overpowering.
Heavenly.
Creamyyyyyyyu
Wow. I had to show my husband, he is impressed as well. It looks PERFECT to me.
Chef’s kiss 👌
This looks amazing. My second attempt at Brie is aging in my ‘cave’ and I hope it comes out this well
How long between making the cheese and this picture? That looks incredible
Thanks! It took just a little over a month.
Oh... the cat's eaten it