4 April 2012

Homemade camembert - 2

Yesterday I wrote about making camembert cheese in the home kitchen. We got to the point where the milk had turned from liquid to curds and whey.

Cutting the curds:
Your cheese mix still needs to be at 32C/89.6F. If the temperature has dropped, turn the stove on again for about a minute.
  1. Take the long sharp knife and prepare to cut the curd. This is done by gently slicing through the curd at 2cm/i inch strips from top to bottom.
  2. When you have strips, cut the strips into cubes but slicing through from left to right.
  3. When you have cubes, then slice through the curds diagonally - both ways, left ot right, then right to left.
  4. Stir the curds with the slotted spoon for 15 minutes and check to make sure all the curds are in small 2cm/1inch cubes. If you see any larger ones, cut them with your knife.
  5. Let the curds rest for 15 minutes. This will allow the whey to ooze out of the curd.
Cutting the curds - from top to bottom.
And diagonally to make small cubes.
Stir the curds gently for 15 minutes and look for curds that haven't been cut small enough.

Putting the curds into the moulds
  1. After the curds have rested for 15 minutes, the whey will have risen to the top and the curds will have sunk down.
  2. Pour off the whey into a container. I found the container too heavy to easily pick up and pour so I used a soup ladle to scoop off the whey.
  3. When most of the whey is in another container - my batch yielded about 4 litres of whey - you have start filling the moulds.
  4. Place the moulds on a sterile draining rack that will allow the whey to drain off. I used the draining rack from the botton of a plastic container and placed it over a bowl. I supported the rack on both sides of the bowl and with a small upturned bowl in the middle. The four liitres/quarts of milk I used filled two moulds.
  5. Fill them right to the top and wait a short while for the whey to drain off. Pour this whey into your containers. Don't waste it. Keep filling the moulds until they reach the top of the moulds and you've used all the curds.
  6. Let the moulds drain for an hour.

Pour or scoop off the whey from the curds and store it in a jar.
When most of the whey is in the jars, start forming the cheese.
This cheese yielded about 1½ litres/quarts of whey. I'll use this for making ricotta.

Turning the moulds:
  1. When the moulds have drained for an hour, you need to turn them over to make sure they drain evenly. Making sure you have very clean hands, gently slide the curds from the mould onto your hand. It should slide out easily. Then turn the curd over and slide it back into the mould.
  2. Now you'll have the curds in the mould again but what was the top is not on the bottom.
  3. Do this every hour for the rest of the day, or about 5 or 6 times.
  4. Allow the moulds to sit on the rack and drain overnight. I put mine in the microwave and closed the door.
Load the moulds to the top and let them drain into a bowl. Save the whey.
I took the cheese out of the moulds too soon. Let them stay in the moulds overnight and remove them in the morning.

Salting the cheese:
  1. The next morning you can remove the cheese from the moulds and salt it.
  2. Use good salt - kosher or pure sea salt - sprinkle it all over the cheese and rub it in slightly.
Maturing the cheese:
  1. Place the cheese on a rack in a sterile box that will fit in your fridge or cheese cave. You need a humid coolish environment for the moulds to develop. The cheese needs air for the bacteria and moulds to develop - so don't keep the lid on the container.
  2. Set the temperature at between 8 - 10C and place an open container of water in the fridge to increase humidity. If you think the humidity level isn't high enough, place moist cheesecloth or cotton cloth in the fridge. You could also use a spray bottle of boiled water that has cooled down and spray the inside of the fridge.
  3. It will take about 14 days for the cheese to be fully covered with white mould but you'll probably notice it growing at the end of the first week.
  4. When you see the first signs of white mould, turn the cheese over.
  5. When the white mould is completely covering the cheese, wrap them in cheese wrap and continue to mature the cheese at 8 - 10C for another 3 - 4 weeks.



White mould not growing?
If, after a week, the white mould doesn't grow, you'll need to provide more humidity. Place the cheese inside a plastic box that has a drainage rack. Place a small amount of boiled cool water in the base, place the rack in, put the cheese on the rack and close the lid. This is important: every 2 days, open the lid to allow fresh air in, then close the lid again.

What sort of milk?
Almost all fresh milk can be used - whole milk, skim milk, goat or cow's milk. I used raw milk but if you can't get that, look for unhomogenised milk at the shop. If you can't get that, use plain pasturised milk.

It's best to start your cheesemaking in the morning. It will take all day to make camembert but most of that time is waiting for the next step; the actual hands-on work takes about an hour.

The amount of milk I used will give you about 1½ litres/quarts of whey. Don't throw it out, it's a valuable food full of beneficial bacteria. Store your whey in a preserving/canning jar. It will keep well in the fridge for at least three months. I'm going to make ricotta with this whey and it will sit happily in the fridge until I have time to do it.

I hope I've encouraged you towards cheesemaking. If you have the right equipment and cultures and a supply of good milk, you can make some very good cheese. It's not too difficult and although some of the processes can be time consuming, most of that time is waiting for the whey to drain or for the curds to set. It's another great skill that will add to the delicious and simple foods you can place on the table for your family and friends.

ADDITIONAL READING
This is my favourite cheese site - Fankhauser's Cheese Page
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18 comments

  1. That looks wonderful. I'm curious if raw milk is legal (for sale) in Australia? Here in Canada the laws seem to protect the factory farms and really hurt the kind/organic/sustainable ones.

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  2. Melissa, it's illegal to buy raw milk in Australia; a misguided law if you ask me. It sounds like Canada and Australia have similar laws. I didn't buy this milk.

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  3. I've really enjoyed reading about your cheesemaking, but it still sounds scary to me. Having everything sterile is obviously so important. Could I drain the cheese in a metal colander or a steamer saucepan instead of plastic because then I could use heat to sterilise? I'm filing this cheesemaking idea in the back of my mind because I can see I will want to try it one day!

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  4. This is something I've wanted to do for a couple years now, but haven't tried yet. Thanks for all of this excellent information and your tutorials. It's nice to have a guiding hand right here when I decide to dive in ;)
    -Jaime

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  5. What a timely post for me. I spent Monday out at Maleny Cheese Factory and have been inspired to get into the more complex cheese making - at the moment, I do cheddar, feta and motzarella. I use the gold Maleny Milk for my cheese making. I think i will have an attempt at Camembert after Easter.

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  6. Linda, it's fine to use your steel colander or steamer and heat sterilise them.

    Give it a go, Jaime. It was quite an easy process.

    Juggler, Maleny's gold milk is the unhomogenised one so it would be ideal for this. Good luck with it, let me know how it turns out.

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  7. It looks like quite a process. I think I will leave this until I have more 'home time'. Thanks for the step by step tutorial though. I'll definitely be back to view it again one day when I'm ready to take the plunge into cheese making.

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  8. Dammit Rhonda, you're making me hungry! They look delicious!

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  9. You actually can get raw milk in some Healthfood store in AU - BUT, You will find it in the fridge labed as Bathing milk... "not fit for consumption" ;) *wink wink*

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  10. Fantastic post Rhonda I am inspirered to give cheese making a go. I checked out the Australian Home Cheese Making site and they don't seem have any kits for sale as yet. Maybe I can make cheese without a kit.

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  11. Lia, you don't need a kit. You need to decide what cheese you'll make and get the moulds suitable for that cheese. Then you need the cultures for that cheese and some rennet. You can get everything online. Have a look at the fankhauser page.

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  12. Always full of such good advice Thanks Rhonda. I'll have a look at the fankhauser page.
    BTW we have just purchased chickens for the first time I have checked all the chicken posts on your blog. So much useful stuff about caring for chooks. I know books (I have a copy of your book and I love it)are good but hands on information is so much better.

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  13. Its not legal to buy unpasteurized milk but if you can find Cleopatra's bath milk....its not meant for drinking but if you like you can....

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  14. Hello i am Darren Butt

    I enjoy reading your articles

    I am looking forward to read more..

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  15. Wow! Impressive! Rhonda, you are a great source of inspiration for us. Thanks for sharing this. I will surely come back to this post when the time come for me to make Camembert cheese.
    Have a great weekend!

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  16. Ms. Rhonda ,
    I started reading your blog 2 months ago and I am somewhat obsessed. I am only 36 and raising my 2 year old by myself while fully employed but aspire to the sort of life you live. Though not originally from the US I now live here. Paying back my mortgage so I can finally own my house, but still a long way of, no credit card debt, own my car, grow a small veggie garden which provides endless joy and relaxation for me and wonder for my son! Yesterday I picked some radishes and he went right behind me picking some more young ones!
    I love all your posts but especially the ones about making your own stuff. I do cook from scratch every night but will probably not me making my own washing products. I would like to raise chicken but community rules do not allow it.
    I loved your cheese making post but have not tried it yet. I have tried making butter following your post but did not find cream so bought whipping cream instead and made whipped cream, what a joy that was!
    I long for a time when I can stay at home preferably back in my own country, having a small farm, raising chicken, making cheese and milk, preserves etc. my mom does that and she taught me to make many things but I moved to the US looking for a better life. Now I wonder if this is what I got! A 8 to 5 job with my son in day care and a frantic scramble at the end of the day to make sure all is in order, ready for the next day! I cherish my weekends and the time I spend with my son and in the garden, teaching my neighbor to cook from scratch, etc.

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  18. The Fankhauser Cheese page is no longer available at the original site but can be found here:
    https://web.archive.org/web/20090423225332/http://biology.clc.uc.edu/Fankhauser/Cheese/CHEESE.HTML

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