Listen to the episode below... (00:22:00)
Did you know that there are ways to ripen your cheese depending on the type of cheese you make? During this episode I cover the four main ripening process classifications and describe them in detail.
They are;
- Bloomy-rind & interior mould-ripened cheese
- Washed rind cheese
- Natural rind cheese
- Waxed rind cheese
Cheese news centres on the global oversupply of dairy products and the Cricketer Farm in the UK.
Q&A this week is about;
- Saganaki cheese
- Maturing Caerphilly
- Issues Ripening Camembert
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I have noticed that some cheese ( e.g. swiss) is sealed in plastic before ripening. If so, why does one need to be concerned re. humidity?
Hi Paul. Vacuum packing is becoming a regular practice for keeping cheese mould free when maturing. Its a bit like waxing, but with plastic.
Nice blog Gavin. Useful summary on ripening. Please can you advise further on ripening Camembert? Recently I opened a nice-looking one my son and I had made about 5 weeks before. I smelled good and felt ripe. On cutting it literally flowed out of its skin onto the plate. It was quite strong but not at all unpleasant so I had to covert it into a delicious sauce for pasta. I guess it had simply over-ripened? Does the extra week make such a difference or could opening up the fridge door several times a day raise the ripening temperature above 4C? Or did I just have the starter cultures too strong for the volume of milk? It was probably also a bit bigger (taller) than the usual size as I had run out of normal Camembert hoops. All the early stages were perfect in regard to development of the white mould bloom and skin development. Thank you for any advice. Richard
Cheers Richard. The extra week will make a big difference. The first time I made Camembert I had the same issue. I cut it in half and it oozed everywhere. I allowed mine to ripen at too high a temp and for 4.5 weeks. Maybe try a little less of the Meso and the P.Candidium next batch and see what happens. Cheese making is a little bit of experimentation because there are just so many variables.
Thanks Gavin. Good incentive to make lots more – tweaking all the variables..