Hey,
I had what I consider my first big success in cheesemaking. I made a double cream camembert with the goal fo coming somewhere near to the deliciousness of Hudson Valley Camembert from Old Chatham. I used 7 quarts of whole milk and 1 qt of heavy cream and followed Debra Boyes book’s recipe for camembert. Everything went very well and I ended up with four big 1.5-2 inch camemberts covered in beautiful white mold. This time I wrapped them quickly (I waited too long last time and the cheese started to dry up and shrink) and kept them in my cheese cave for two weeks.
This weekend I opened one up and it was already amazing -the center is still firm but there is a significant mold-affected area around the outside that is soft. Letting it warm up for a few hours really opened up the taste. I honestly never thought that a cheese I made at home could be this good but it was definitely better than any supermarket camembert I have ever tasted.
Next day I went to make beer at a friend’s house and I brought them a camembert (he often supplies e with raw milk so I owe him) and this one was even better. After the first taste his eyes lit up and he said “this is the most flavorful cheese I’ve ever eaten”. I was pretty happy, the three of us ate about 10 ounces of cheese over the course of the afternoon.
I still haven’t tasted my cheddar or French Tomme, but if they are half as good as this I’m in trouble!
-Aaron
