Well, I just ladled my first camembert curds into the molds and am listening to them draining into the pan below. I have a really bad feeling about this cheese and have since the time that I first added the rennet.
As soon as I began stirring the rennet into the milk, the milk started to become a little grainy looking with little flecks of curd sticking to the spoon.
After giving it a two hour set (like the recipe called for) I had this grainy, very acidic looking curd that had shrunk away from the sides of the pan. The only other time I’ve seen this type of curd is when doing a mozzerella and sure enough I was using from the same bottle of rennet that I used today.
I was trying to finish off an older bottle of rennet before opening my new one up. Since this is the second strange looking curd from this bottle I can feel pretty confident that it is no longer any good.
Even though the curd looked grainy and soft, it did cut. It wasn’t even close to being nice and firm but like I said, it did cut.
Then, upon giving the curd a gentle stir, it started to really break up in the pan.
I stopped stirring and ladled the curds into the molds. I’m going to go ahead and let the curd drain and see what comes out of it.
I am pretty positive that I’m not going to be happy with the results, but then again you never know. I’m just glad that I decided to start with only a one gallon batch so that I didn’t waste my usual two gallons.
I do know that I did not use ultra pasturized milk and that the milk is not the problem. I used the exact same brand that I make all of my cheese from and bought it at the same store. It also smelled very fresh.
I’ll let you all know how it turns out. If I can get the curd to take shape in the mold, there still might be hope.
Man, I really hate it when a cheese fails.
Dave

Okay, it’s now nearly 7:30 in the evening and I’m feeling much better about my first attempt at Camembert. After flipping the cheese several times the curd has knitted togeter nicely and has also shrunk down the way a camembert is supposed to. The cheese is also pulling away from the sides of the mold just as it should.
Despite the poor curd formation I feel that this might just turn out okay afterall. The cheeses look very nice.
When flipping just a few minutes ago, once of my cheeses turned a little bit sideways in the mold. I removed the mold to straighten the wheel out and the wheel did hold together. I started to pick it up to replace in the mold but it felt way too soft and fragile. Because of this I simply slid the mold back over the cheese.
Since it’s only been about 6 hours since I molded it, I took this as a good sign. According to my recipe I’m supposed to leave it in the mold until tomorrow so by then it will hopefully have formed itself into a more solid mass.
I also just put my second swiss of the year into the press, and I can’t get over how well this new recipe works for me. Swiss is not an easy cheese to make but I’m starting to think that all it takes is a good recipe and stringent attention to detail.
I did add 1-1/2 tsp. of propronic shermanii to this batch. This is double what I used in the last batch but I did it for good reason.
First of all, my first swiss hasn’t swelled as much as I would like to see. Also, according to this recipe (which is for a one gallon batch) you simply doulbe all of the ingredients for a two gallon batch. Since I am using three gallons of milk, I adjusted accordingly.
If in fact the cheese splits or gets too aggrestive I will adjust the next batch down to 1 tsp. of proprianic shermanii. I see it as a learning experience through trial and error.
One thing about swiss is that I’m going to get plenty of practice making it. My eight year old daughter absolutely loves it and calls it “stink cheese”. Because of her love for “stink cheese” I simply have to turn out a good one.
Next up is a provolone tomorrow and another Gouda on Tuesday.
Everyone have a good weekend.
Dave

Sounds like it was very acid in the beginning, See how it goes.

FWIW, on my Swiss I use 1 tablespoon of proprionic shermanii for every 2 gallons of milk.

Wow Rick! Mabye I don’t feel so adventerous afterall.
The reason I was uneasy about using so much is because the Diary Connection website says to use 1/8 to 1/4 tsp. per two gallons. Hopefully this will be the kick start my swiss needs to form some bigger eyes.
I pulled the camembert out of the molds and gave them a heavy salting. The cheeses were still really soft but they did knit together nicely. They are now in the fridge….resting on bamboo mats and covered with tupperware containers. I guess I’ll know in a few weeks if it is successful or not.
My swiss is brining and once again I got a perfect curd out of this recipe. The yield was so great that I simply could not get it all in the mold this time. Each curd was the size of a grain of rice and they broke up perfectly after cooking. I can’t believe how much difference fore working the curds and limiting acid production makes in this cheese.
My first swiss (using this recipe) is getting waxed and going for a month or so of storage on Tuesday. As of this morning it is still just as elastic and pliable as it was on the day I made it. This is a first for me when it comes to my attempts at swiss.
For anyone who has struggled with thier swiss drying out or not turning out, give this recipe a try: http://www.ehow.com/how_2306997_make-swiss-cheese.html
The only other thing I’m doing is making sure the humidity stays extremely high during the sweating period. I’ve been running anywhere from 95 to 100% humidity on this one.
Other than some typical surface mold issues it seems to be working well.
Dave