Oyster Mushroom Infused Camembert Cheese

Got this idea out of a cheese book. Infuse the cheese with mushroom flavor. This is a semi-creamy cheese with a leather-like skin. The skin is really the best part.

There are three cutures at play here: MM100 (bacteria) to lactic acid flavor and buttery notes (diacetyl!), penicillium candidum to produce the nice white mold on the outside, forms the leathery skin, and causes the cheese inside to get really soft and creamy. Finally, geotrichum candidum, which also produce the nice white exterior mold and helps with slipskin, which can be a problem for camembert.

I heated the milk to 110F, added the mushrooms, then steeped for an hour. Then, strained mushrooms.

This is not a pressed cheese. The curds are ladled into molds and allowed to drain overnight. I cover them with cheesecloth so no critters find them.

They lose over 75% of their volume, and result in the small cylinders in the picture. In about a week, they will develop a white moldy exterior, and in 4 more weeks they will be delicious, soft and creamy on the inside, with a tasty skin on the outside.

More pictures in a month. Into the cheese cave they go.

Wicked cool.

After a few days @ 50F, these camembert are coming along perfectly. They've developed the desirable white dusty mold on the outside. This mold, caused by the penicillium candidum (PC) I added to the milk and sprayed onto the outside, protects the cheese from other types of mold. Since it's a moist cheese, it's highly susceptible to other molds in the air, but the PC will defend it. When you pick them up, the silky mold comes off on your fingers and you leave fingerprints on the cheese, just like picking up a powdered donut.

You can see in the second picture the moisture on the inside of my homemade storage containers. Having the container closed like that keeps moisture in, and creates the high-moisture environment these cheese need to develop properly. When the cheese is entirely covered with that PC mold, I'll refrigerate for a couple more weeks. Then they will be ready for chowing. The inside will slowly get creamier, the skin will get tougher, it's a great cheese that I like a lot.

Due to popular demand , I'm posting more information on this most excellent cheese.

I just got back from travels and found my cams were nice and fluffy. The PC/Geo combination produced a really nice velvety white mold on these guys. They smell really good, and I wanted to eat some right now. But I wrapped them in cheesepaper and put them into the keg fridge (35F). I will let them ripen for 2 more weeks, then give one of them a try. I want thick skin, semi-creamy interior, and medium funk. If left too long at 50F, they get soft very quickly and develop an ammonia aroma.

You can see in the second picture the thickness of the mold. I flipped the cam and the grid pattern was the mold growing through the mat below it. It's at least 1/8" thick. Also, in the first pic, there's a nice deep well in the mold from my thumb.

Wow! Those are wonderful- keep the updates coming.

Well, I bought a small wheel of Camembert from a fancy deli in GR.

Tried it a couple of times, and although it's better than the Brie I had, I'm not planning on making any anytime soon.

I just can't get into that odd earthy flavor. My dogs like it, because I trim the fuzzy part and feed it to them.

Homercidal said:

Well, I bought a small wheel of Camembert from a fancy deli in GR.

Tried it a couple of times, and although it's better than the Brie I had, I'm not planning on making any anytime soon.

I just can't get into that odd earthy flavor. My dogs like it, because I trim the fuzzy part and feed it to them.

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The fuzzy part is the best part!

I've eaten two of these already. They are great (for me). To each his own

There's lots of different choices, and for now I'll be sticking to cheddars, and other less gross cheeses.

I was listening to Cole Porter radio on Pandora all day. Funny, camembert is mentioned in one of his songs, You're the Top.


You're the top!
You're an arrow collar
You're the top!
You're a Coolidge dollar,
You're the nimble tread
Of the feet of Fred Astaire,
You're an O'Neill drama,

You're Whistler's mama!

You're camembert.

Ok, now you got me checking out Cole Porter.

Old timey radio!

Homercidal said:

Ok, now you got me checking out Cole Porter.

Old timey radio!

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There's a group called Hot Club of Detroit that shows up on that station (for me). I occasionally hit a thumbs up/down, so maybe my Cole Porter might be diff than yours. Anyway, check them out. Young dudes playing some old time jazzy stuff. I think they're great.

Okay... do you ship?

Hey, you got a picture of the inside? Is there much of a difference between the Geotrichum version and the non-Geotrichum you first made? Would you recommend the Geo for a plain Camembert? Looking great, as usual!

shelly_belly said:

Hey, you got a picture of the inside? Is there much of a difference between the Geotrichum version and the non-Geotrichum you first made? Would you recommend the Geo for a plain Camembert? Looking great, as usual!

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So far, no diff. The last cams I made had a bit of slipskin, where the sweet skin is totally disconnected from the cheese. Supposedly, geo helps with that. But these also seem to be creamy right under the skin. So, the geo hasn't made a difference.

I'll cut one tomorrow and take pics. Thanks for being interested. Makes me feel marginally more normal when someone takes an interest in one of my endeavors.

No. Thank you! Your cheese-making posts are inspirational. I've been wanting to make cheese for a while now, I just haven't been willing to divert the homebrew funds. But now that I see that I can do some soft cheeses with minimal investment I will do so.

I don't think I care if the skin separates or not so I can save money there. Actually, the rest of the family doesn't like the skin so that may even be a bonus.

+1, inspirational. Do funky beers pair well with these cheeses? What a potential, great homebrew and great homemade hesse. Keep the posts and pics coming!

Cyclman said:

+1, inspirational. Do funky beers pair well with these cheeses? What a potential, great homebrew and great homemade hesse. Keep the posts and pics coming!

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This cheese isn't really funky, so it goes well with a lighter beer. I have an great pilsner on tap right now that I think pairs well (Briess Pilnser malt / tettnang hops / Wy 2308).

But, you know, any beer pairs well with cheese :rockin:

shelly_belly said:

No. Thank you! Your cheese-making posts are inspirational. I've been wanting to make cheese for a while now, I just haven't been willing to divert the homebrew funds. But now that I see that I can do some soft cheeses with minimal investment I will do so.

I don't think I care if the skin separates or not so I can save money there. Actually, the rest of the family doesn't like the skin so that may even be a bonus.

Click to expand...

This cheese is really easy to make if you have the right ingredients. The nice thing is there is no pressing, so it's just a matter of the right ingredients, some simple equipment (mostly homemade stuff), and maintaining temperatures. This cheese really needs to be around 50F during it's adolescence. I make it any time I'm fermenting lagers (which is often, actually).