Hi guys…
As I’ve posted before I have several camemberts going through the motions in my wine fridge. Two of these are going on two weeks old but I really haven’t seen the type of mold growth that I would expect.
My fridge is running between 47 and 49 degrees F and the mold growth just seems to be sitting there doing nothing. Now here’s the interesting part…..
This morning I decided to try to adjust the thermostadt to get just a tad higher of a temperature. This thermostadt is very touchy and if I turn it just a hair too far it completely shuts off the fridge.
Well this morning I did go just a hair too far and came home to a fridge that was 62 degrees F and 99% humidity.
Now I’m sure this is a little too high to age camembert yet the mold really took off today. When I turned the cheese this evening it actually felt fuzzy under my fingers and the cheese was really starting to stick to the mat it is resting on.
Another thing that is interesting is that I couldn’t even get the mold to grow until I raised the temp in the fridge by making the same mistake. The cheese was just sitting there, doing nothing but once I took the thermostadt too far and hit the low 60’s it seemed to start growing over night.
I think there is one of two things going on here….
#1. 48 degrees is too cold for the mold to perform properly (this is in direct conflict to everything I’ve read) or…..
#2. My thermometer (that I place in the fridge) is off by a few degrees and I’m getting a higher reading than the actual temp.
If number two is the problem that means I might be closer to the lower 40’s while the fridge is running (which could stop the mold growth) and could be closer to mid to high 50’s when the gauge is showing 62 degrees.
I have four newly made cheeses on the top racks of the fridge (where the temp will be higher) and the two older cheeses at the bottom (where the temp is lower). Do you guys think I’ll have any problems with my newly made cheese if I leave the fridge off, to see how my older ones perform?
Of course I don’t want to ruin any of these cheeses but I also want to figure out what I need to do to make the recipe work.
The other wine fridge that I use seems to hold a rock steady 50 degrees and the thermostadt is not nearly as touchy. What’s amazing is that they look as if they came out of the exact same factory, even though one is a Haire and the other a Danby.
Another option would be to move the older cheeses to the top of the fridge and two of the younger cheeses to the bottom. I’m sure that would help the older ones but as I said previously I had trouble with getting the mold to take at the lower fridge temperature.
Just trying to get your opinions on how I should handle this. I know next to nothing about Camembert so experience is not something that I can rely on.
Thanks in advance.
Dave
