My first white mould cheese

[walther]

Hi,

I just made my first white mould cheese yesterday, and was looking for a forum. So I was delighted to see my favourite beer forum had a cheese section

I also have 3D printing as a hobby,...

http://www.thingiverse.com/thing:1543823

 

[walther]

My cheeses have now been in the fridge three days.
They are still very wet on the surface, and it does not feel like the optimal environment for the white mould ?

Should they be dry, moist or wet now ?

(they are inside an ice-cream box, with a loose lid)

Thank you,

 

[Homercidal]

That is very cool!

I'm not sure about moisture. I know there is a preferred humidity level, but I'm not sure if excess moisture ON the cheese is good or bad.

 

[bernardsmith]

I just lost my cheese virginity - so I am definitely no expert - but I think you may want to dry your cheese at about 50 F (or even at room temperature) before you increase the humidity in a fridge.

 

[passedpawn]

My cheeses have now been in the fridge three days.
They are still very wet on the surface, and it does not feel like the optimal environment for the white mould ?

Should they be dry, moist or wet now ?

(they are inside an ice-cream box, with a loose lid)

Thank you,

Are those camemberts? The white mold (Penecillium candidum? or geo?) does require high humidity to grow. Best way is to put in a sealed container, but they need to be off the bottom where moisture will collect. You need to flip them every day for the first few days - yea, that might ruin your cool design, but the PC is going to fill that in anyway. That moisture on them that you're seeing there is probably whey coming out of the cheese, which is why you need to flip them.

You can buy cheese caves for camemberts that work pretty well (1st pic, search cheese cave on amazon) or just make them yourself (2nd pic). I've made lots of these and use them for aging all of my cheeses.

 

[bernardsmith]

You place those cheese caves in a fridge with a temperature controller (eg Inkbird)?

 

[passedpawn]

You place those cheese caves in a fridge with a temperature controller (eg Inkbird)?

Yes. I have a two-stage controller on my garage chest freezer so I can control cold and heat. Also have a thermoelectric dehumifier to control humidity (that's more for drying fermented meats than for cheese).

With camemebert, which is a soft creamy cheese, I've found it's really important to get it into the normal fridge right when it's covered with fuzzy white mold. If you wait too long, it will completely melt on the inside and will smell slightly of ammonia.

I remove mine from the cheese box and wrap mine in cheesepaper and put in cold fridge when furry.

 

[walther]

Thanks for the feedback,

After about a week they dried on the surface, and the mold started showing. After two weeks they were covered nicely, and I put them in a fridge.

Now after three weeks they look nice, and a very firm to the touch.
I guess I can tell when they are ready by the feel ?

Thanks

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks for the feedback,

After about a week they dried on the surface, and the mold started showing. After two weeks they were covered nicely, and I put them in a fridge.

Now after three weeks they look nice, and a very firm to the touch.
I guess I can tell when they are ready by the feel ?

Thanks

Eat that sucker! Glad you didn't wait too long to refrigerate. I always seem to. They should feel fairly firm, but maybe a little pliant.

Maybe you can figure out how to get a picture up here. I'd love to see your creation.