Goat - Yes , Camembert - No!

In my last post (I know its been way too long), I posted step by step the making of what I had planned to be a goat version of a Camembert style cheese. The cheese aged beautifully, and after about 50 days (just before Christmas), I pulled one of the rounds out of the "cheese cave" i.e. wine fridge and cut it to share with family.

I was expecting the knife to slide through pretty easily. Then came the first deviation from the plan. I had to practically lay on the knife to cut the wheel in half. When the two halves fell apart came surprise number two. The cheese had pockets of green/gray mold throughout. I was disappointed. At this point, I quickly decided (while no one else was looking) that I put a lot of work into making this cheese and by golly, I was going to eat it. So I cut a small piece from a mold free area and it tasted GREAT! The flavor was very complex and reminded me a little of Manchego. Don't hold me to that as my cheese palate is only in its infancy. I knew that the mold wouldn't hurt me. Some molds transform cheese into absolutely delicious works of art. On the other hand, this particular cheese wasn't supposed to have mold. I'm guessing that in this particular round, the curd did not knit together consistently throughout, leaving pockets of air and creating an environment for contaminant mold growth. I didn't think to take a picture until the round was almost entirely eaten. However, the pic below shows some of the mold in a small piece. We all really enjoyed the flavor of the cheese, and my grandfather liked the stronger flavored moldy areas best.




I left the second wheel in the "cheese cave" for another couple weeks. I told myself that I was giving it more time to age. Its more likely that I was scared of what might jump out of it when I cut into it. So last Saturday, we were heading out for our normal market trip to the Lynchburg Community Market and then on for a visit to Caromont Farm in Esmont, VA. The "bread people" over at Lorraine Bakery had been in Germany for two weeks over Christmas and we were really excited they were going to be back on for the Saturday market. So, I decided it was time to cut into the second Not Camembert wheel and share the love. Early Saturday morning, I pulled the wheel out of the cave and cut it in half. Again the cheese was very hard - think Parmesan, but there was no mold contamination. I was really relieved. I packaged up half of the wheel to share at the market and half to take to Caromont hoping that Gail Hobbs-Page would be able to help me identify a style that the cheese resembled. The cheese was very well received by Petra and Steve at Lorraine Bakery as well as our friend Cliff over at Chateau Z Vineyard.

After the market trip, we headed out to Caromont Farm in Esmont, VA. Gail gave us a wonderful tour of her farm. Hop over to Danielle's blog and look for her January 9th entry for more on our trip. After the farm tour, Gail invited us inside for cheese tasting and fellowship. What better time to pull out my Not Camembert cheese for a little identification help. Gail and her husband Daniel both tasted the cheese and seemed to appreciated its flavor. She was very quick to point out that it was nothing like Camembert! She did mention that the flavor was similar to a Spanish goat cheese with a fairly dry and crumbly texture. I pulled out my notebook where I kept detailed notes during the cheese making. After examining the notes, we decided that if I wanted to make Camembert, that I should not cut the curd, but instead ladle the curd directly into the molds. This would also eliminate the 15 minute curd stirring step. I really liked the flavor of the cheese and don't think I want to turn it back into Camembert. I would like to get the texture a little less dry and crumbly. I've been reading and researching flocculation and the influence of flocculation time on the moisture level of the cheese. So, I have some ideas on how to go about getting the moisture level up in hopes of influencing the texture. Below is a picture of the round that I cut on 1/9/2010 for the market and trip to Caromont Farm.


On a more bittersweet note, we've been out of milk for over a month now that our friend Anita over at Shantara Acres has dried up most of her goats and ours are not due to kid until March. Well, late Sunday night Jacqsonne (our oldest doe) aborted five little goat fetuses. She was huge, and we think the stress of moving her from Tennessee over New Years along with the stress of carrying five fetuses was just too much. We began milking her Monday morning and she is slooooowly coming into milk. You can check out Danielle's blog for more info on Jacqsonne and the other girls. So, we are beginning to have a little milk and I will be able to resume cheese making sooner than anticipated.

Goat Camembert

Last Thursday, I tried my hand at making Camembert. The last time I made Camembert, I was in college working on my internship. Unlike the Camembert that I made in the past from cows milk, this attempt was with goat milk. Danielle went over to Anita's to get some more practice milking. She came home with about two and a half gallons of fresh goat milk.

For the chevre I've been making on a weekly basis lately, I've been pasteurizing the milk prior to cheese making. All of my favorite Camemberts have been made with raw milk, so I cleaned everything really well, and then cleaned it again (don't want any bad bugs jumping into the batch), and embarked on my Camembert journey with raw goat milk.

I started around 8 pm that evening while watching the Hokies play ECU in Greenville, NC. Note to self - start earlier next time. I didn't get to bed until 1:15 am, a full two hours after the Hokies wrapped up a win.

I had been worried about the quality of the rennet I purchased a couple months ago. I tried making three batches of 30 minute mozzarella, only to have each batch fail. I was unable to achieve a clean break on any of the mozzarella batches. I had first suspected the the rennet and now suspect the quality of the grocery store milk I used. After talking to a few others who have had more failures than successes with 30 minute mozzarella, it will be a while before I attempt any more mozzarella.

I used Flora Danica for a starter culture and also added my penicillium candidum directly to the milk when adding the starter culture. I've read that geotrichum candidum added with the penicillium candidum helps to create an optimum medium for the penicillium candidum to grow on the surface of the cheeses. The penicillium candidum is the white mold on the surface of the Camembert and Brie cheeses.

I got a nice clean cut 60 minutes after addition of the rennet.

Getting ready to ladle the curds into the molds.

As the whey heads south, the curds quickly settle in the molds.

By morning and several flips later, they looked like this.

Now the Camemberts are snugly resting in my makeshift "cheese cave." I can already tell my cave is not going to be big enough.

All signs point towards success! Now we wait for the fuzz.



NEWS FLASH:

We are now on day five for the Goat Camembert, and there are definite signs of fuzz. Each of the cheeses has begun to develop a good covering of penicillium candidum mold (at least I hope that's what it is.) I'm pumped! I will wait another day or two to get a good picture.