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How to Make Camembert Cheese

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Making Camembert isn’t as hard as you would imagine. OK, there’s a bit of fathing about early on and yes, you do need to buy the bacteria but if you follow these instructions for how to make camembert cheese you should have a small round of your own homemade cheese ready to eat within 5 weeks.
See also

How to Make Stilton

How to Make Roule Cheese

How to make goats cheese

A BRIEF NOTE ABOUT EQUIPMENT

If you followed the Stilton-type recipe, you will certainly have most of the following:

*           Large stockpot

*           Slotted spoon

*           Thermometer

*           4 cheese mats (see the note below)

*           2 hard cheese moulds

*           Knife

*           Board (chopping or otherwise)

*           A scrupulously clean working area and sterilised equipment

 

Do not be tempted to make your first Camembert in a large Camembert mould. The cheese is difficult to turn, especially in its early stages, so it is best to keep it in a more ‘manageable’ form until you have got the process completely sussed out.

Cheese Mats

You can buy plastic cheese mats, or use plastic canvas intended for tapestries, which is available from most hobby outlets. I got a bamboo felting mat, cut it into 4 pieces, as required, and retied it. Do not be tempted to use old bamboo place mats – the colour will leak into your cheese!

INGREDIENTS

3.4 litres full milk

400ml gold top extra creamy milk

⅛ tsp mesophilic direct set culture (or starter culture)

⅟₃₂ tsp Penicillium candidum Neige*

¼ tsp rennet in 30ml cooled, boiled water

2 tbsp rock salt

*Measuring out ⅛, let alone ⅟₃₂ of a teaspoon of anything, is going to be almost impossible, so using your best guess will be required here.

METHOD

1           STERILISE EVERYTHING! ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING! You do not want to add bacteria to existing bacteria!
2           Put the milk in a large pan and heat it gently to bring the temperature up slowly to 32°C, or as near as dammit. Keep stirring the milk throughout the process.
3           Once it has reached 32°C, remove the pan from the heat.
4           Add the Penicillium candidum Neige (us home farmers really need a smidgeon measure for things like ⅟₃₂ tsp) and stir well again, then add the mesophilic culture and stir once more.

Adding the Penicillium candidum Neige.

5           Keep stirring for 5 minutes, then leave to stand, covered and warm, for 90 minutes. You need to keep the temperature at a constant 32°C, or as close as possible. To keep the temperature correct I found that siting the pan next to a gas ring that’s on low and turning the pan round every so often did the trick. Do not keep the pan over an active gas ring!
6           Add the rennet in a solution of cooled, boiled water, stir it in and leave for a further 60 minutes, or until you have a clean break in the curds. To test for a clean break, cut the curds with a knife – it should be like cutting into a wet, semi-formed blancmange.

Checking for a clean break.

7           Cut the curds first into a square grid, moving the knife from side to side both ways, then slant your knife to cut at 45 degrees; your curds should now look like a very, very watery cottage cheese.

Once cut the curds will look like watery cottage cheese.

8           Stir for a good 5 minutes, then leave to settle. The ‘chunks of curd’ will get smaller and sink to the bottom. When ready, ladle off as much of the whey as possible.

PREPARING YOUR CAMEMBERT STATION

9           Put a chopping board or similar on the draining board – use something to prop up one end slightly so that it tilts and will drain off any excess whey into the sink/bowl.
10         Place 2 bamboo mats on the board, then place 2 hard cheese moulds on the mats – you are not making a hard cheese, but you do need the rigidity of a hard mould for this.
11         Gently transfer the still wet curds directly from the large pan into the moulds. Continue scooping, filling up and topping up the mould until all the curds are in the 2 moulds. Expect shrinkage and leakage on a grand scale.

Keep topping up the moulds.

12         Once you’ve put all the curds into both moulds, cover with 2 more cheese/bamboo mats, one on each mould, and leave to drain for 60 minutes with your moulds effectively sandwiched between the mats.

The moulds sandwiched between bamboo mats.

13         Your Camembert will now have begun to form a solid, albeit delicate, shape. You now need to flip the moulds and the mats over – this is best done quickly. The top cheese mat and the top of the mould now become the bottom ones.

Flip over – Top bamboo mat removed to show how the cheese has shrunk.

14         Flip them over again in the next hour, then leave them to stand overnight.
FORMING THE RIND
15         The following day you will be able to tip the Camembert out of the mould, but handle it with great care. It will still be very fragile and can be easily damaged. This is the main reason why I suggested using small moulds at first.

Removing the cheese from the mould.

16         Use kitchen towel to remove any excess whey, and rub the surface of your Camembert rounds with rock salt, then place each one in a separate plastic container on either bamboo sticks/skewers or a cheese mat. Cover the container with a lid with holes, or another bamboo mat, and continue to drain off the liquid that will continue to seep out of it for the next few days – you do not want your cheese to sit in this!

Removing excess whey.

Rubbing rock salt into the cheese.

17         Leave the rounds in containers on trimmed bamboo mats for the rind to form. Do not seal the containers – simply cover them with bamboo mats. By Day 5 you should notice dry white patches appearing. This quickly spreads to cover the whole of the cheese, giving it a white, slightly furry, almost ‘out of focus’ look.

Place in a container for the rind to form.

Wrap the Camembert in cheese wrap or wax paper for 5 weeks. Storing it outside the fridge produces a stronger cheese, whereas refrigerating it creates a milder cheese. We like it strong, so we keep it in our ‘cheese cave’ under the stairs. For a milder flavour, store it in the fridge.  Be advised. I like strong cheese and kept it out side the fridge for ages. The cheese had almost dissolved so be moderate.

One of the rounds on day 14 complete with rind.

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