How To Make Camembert (Plus, Tasting the Cheeses at 3 Different Stages of Aging)

In this video I explain each step of the process: from the draining of the curd in the plastic molds, to flipping and air drying them, to developing the beautiful, fuzzy coating of white mold, to aging them in the fridge until they're just the right amount of creaminess. It's so much fun --- you gotta try it!
Note: If you don't want to use clabber as your culture, use Flora Danica freeze-dried culture: 1/8 teaspoon per gallon of milk.
RECIPES and INGREDIENTS
Recipe Source from The Home Cheese Making Book: amzn.to/3E0YoAd (Amazon)
How To Make Clabber: bit.ly/3nX5u3v (blog)
How to Make Clabber: bit.ly/3VPX1Me (KZbin)
Penicillium Candidum: bit.ly/44HYPeh (New England Cheesemaking)
Geotrichum Candidum: bit.ly/3pxsJlq (New England Cheesemaking)
Rennet: bit.ly/3AZldBT (New England Cheesemaking)
Flora Danica (mesophilic culture): bit.ly/3D0iBpT (New England Cheesemaking)
TOOLS and EQUIPMENT
Bamboo Mats: amzn.to/3qkEQ24 (Amazon)
Ricotta Basket Molds: amzn.to/3VTk6NR (Amazon)
Little Blue Basket Molds: amzn.to/3McVWLc (Amazon)
Proper Camembert Molds: bit.ly/3MgcT7C (New England Cheesemaking)
Mesh Plastic: amzn.to/3JV19Xn (Amazon)
Stainless Steel Slotted Spoon: amzn.to/42JWJc0 (Amazon)
2-Ply Cheese Wrap for white mold cheeses: bit.ly/3NWqqSO (New England Cheesemaking)
Read my blog: jennifermurch.com/
Recipes: jennifermurch.com/recipe-index
Email me: [e-mail]
CHAPTERS
00:00 Camemberts
00:25 Milk
00:41 Maintaining a clabber culture
01:21 Clabber
01:50 Freeze-dried Molds and Cultures
02:35 Rennet
02:58 Two ways to check for a clean break
03:21 The molds
04:21 Filling the Molds
05:45 Flipping the cheeses in the molds
07:37 Intermission
08:44 Salting and Air Drying
12:35 White Mold Development
12:49 Day 3
12:16 Day 4 (plus, correct pronunciation)
14:08 Day 5
15:32 Day 6
15:46 Day 7
16:20 Day 9
16:46 Day 12: Wrapping and Aging
17:13 How to wrap a Camembert
17:48 Day 14: Fridge aging and flipping
17:59 Day 20: Taste Test at 3 weeks of age
20:52 Day 41: Taste Test at 6 weeks of age
23:13 Day 48: Taste Test at 7 weeks of age
Disclaimer: This video may contain affiliate links, which means that if you click on one of the product links, I'll receive a small commission.

[@bradleyfield3944]

You're funny. Entertaining and I learn to make cheese at the same time. Who here is wishing they had a cow in the yard?

[@patriciasummers8881]

Oh you read my mind! Definitely wish I had a cow. She’s quite the saleslady too! I was fine with American and cheddar and now I’m wanting to make a cheese I never even heard of! Well maybe heard but knew nothing about. It really sounds wonderful Jennifer.

[@brucemattes5015]

Jennifer, my favorite cheese to eat on a daily basis is St. Marcellin. Preferably as gooey and runny as possible, and smelling of ammonia. So runny that one requires the use of a small spoon to apply the cheese to a good piece of fresh, stone baked bread instead of a knife. Eaten with the rind and paste mixed thoroughly together before applying it to the bread. Although, I have to confess that I have eaten dozens and dozens of St. Marcellin cheeses directly out of the ramekin with a spoon and never bothered with the good bread! Unfortunately, my current income rarely affords me the opportunity to purchase St. Marcellin because it is very pricey compared to the amount by weight per dollar spent. The weight of a typical St. Marcellin cheese is approximately 80 grams or 2.82 ounces. The current price for an imported St. Marcellin cheese in the United States hovers between $9.00 and $12.00 per ramekin-clad cheese, putting the price per pound up there with some of the pricier well-aged cheddars at $52.00 to $65.00 per pound. Once I get set up for making cheese, St. Marcellin cheese is going to be the first style of cheese that I intend to make, regardless of the fact that it's considered an intermediate skill level cheese or how many failures occur before I manage to get it right. My point is that the small size of a St. Marcellin cheese makes it even more fiddly and a pain in the butt to make than the petite camemberts that you are making in this video. In addition to the almost mandatory requirement for a set of ceramic ramekins into which the cheeses need to be aged in. I searched the internet thoroughly and found the best price for white ceramic ramekins with the proper diameter opening at www.webstaurantstore.com, although one ends up with a case of 48 ramekins for the price of about 18-24 as sold on Amazon. The ones on Amazon are just a little too big in diameter, and it is that snug press fit of the cheese fresh out of the mold into the ceramic ramekin that apparently is critical to the ageing process. I read somewhere, I can't remember where, that the ceramic ramekin also aids in the development of the runny paste.

[@jmilkslinger]

Now I want to make a St. Marcellin!

[@rubygray7749]

The magic of camembert! The daily delight of seeing the fluffy bunnikins mould enveloping those neat little rounds, and the fresh mushroomy scent! I've only made it once, and I called it chèvrembert. I used fresh raw milk from my goats, no culture or clabber. But I cut a small piece of bloomy rind off a purchased French camembert, and let it steep at room temperature in a covered cup of milk overnight, strained this then added it to the morning's milk. The process went perfectly, I was amazed! The joy of making your own is having so many cheeses that you can, indeed must, eat them at every stage, from new and firm to the runniest most pungent. They change in flavour and texture every day. The problem with your curds not sinking is the size of the lumberjack chunks you were putting into those moulds. Lack of surface area for whey to seep out. I took fine slivers off the surface of the curd with my skimmer, carefully slid them into the mould without inverting or dropping them in, and they drained really fast. Your biggest one drained faster because you were down to using curds that had been broken up already, and when the skimmer is inverted and the curds drop in, they shatter more. So lots of surface area.

[@jmilkslinger]

Such good points about adding the curds to the molds --- thank you!! And about the camembert you made with another cheese: I've been wanting to try this! Question: was the ratio one cup of "cheese-cultured" milk to one gallon of milk?

[@rubygray7749]

Oops! Just noticed your reply. I was just winging it, no science or recipe involved. So I don't exactly know the quantities. From what I understand, microbes reproduce themselves every 20 minutes. So even if you start with half the specified number of microbes, it will only take an extra 20 minutes for the final number to double. I think I got the idea of using a piece of another cheese from John Seymour, of Self Sufficiency fame. He and Sally never used to use starter. They would leave the evening milk at room temperature overnight, then add the fresh milk to it in the morning, and start heating from there. This effectively cultured the evening milk's own starter microbes, not as thick as clabber of course, but equivalent to your milk with clabber stirred in. The starter cultures die off quickly in finished cheese, but the moulds are still alive. So this works with blue cheese as well. Use a little mould scraped from a blue cheese, dissolved in milk, and add that to your pot.

[@SamayoaMoran]

Good answer! In fact, I have read of cases of Alpine cheeses being inoculated with the rinds of very old cheeses stored in clay pots. Thanks for this conversation ❤❤❤

[@ginabisaillon2894]

I love watching you even though I will never ever ever be able to make cheeses as good as yours because I will never ever have access to fresh milk. But that's OK I make good cheeses anyway.

[@jmilkslinger]

I bet your cheeses are fantastic!

[@ginabisaillon2894]

@@jmilkslinger actually I'm amazed at how good my homemade cheeses are!

[@davidbidwell250]

Wow, beautiful cheeses and with raw milk. They must be so delicious. I'm so envious!

[@LisaB_at_Pine_Ridge]

Love love love that you eat off of a dirty floor too! I’ve found mine people!❤

[@derinkacaroglu]

Beautiful ❤

[@tristinbulko6786]

Looks really good, never tried camembert but looks awesome

[@SteadfastTrailFarm]

Just fascinating!!! Thank you for showing your process! And I love the problem solving ! I have made 4 derby goat milk cheeses so far and discovered if I add just a cup of cow cream I get the same amount of cheese out of 2 gallons than what I got out of 3 gallons without the cow cream! Now I'm just waiting for the taste test end of June! ~jc

[@jmilkslinger]

It never ceases to amaze me at how wildly milk varies. It's fascinating!

[@yanaymerick294]

Very nice video! What's the biggest difference between Camembert and Brie?

[@jmilkslinger]

Camembert is younger and smaller. Brie may sometimes have a stronger flavor.

[@coolcatc8lin]

Love it thanks! I’ve been using my clabber too. I’ve only been able to eat my chèvre but it’s yummo! Goat clabber is much more delicate too I can’t shake or stir it when I feed it!

[@SadiesKitchen]

You are so much fun to watch. I want to make my first cheese. What do you recommend and where do you buy your supplies. I have a source for milk.

[@jmilkslinger]

I get most of my supplies from New England Cheesemaking. (I link to the tools and ingredients I use in the description box below the videos.) As for what cheeses to start with? Anything, really! Whatever kind you like --- just go for it. Cuajada is a simple soft cheese; Gouda is a lovely pressed cheese. Plan to screw it up a few times, but just keep going and you'll eventually get the hang of it!

[@SadiesKitchen]

@@jmilkslinger Thank you for responding. It’s always good to hear back from content makers.

[@conormcmenemie5126]

Love the show. Inspiring, entertaining and educational in equal measure. Edinburgh, Scotland.

[@alhachlibou3lam94]

جميل ورائع

[@judithlehman6533]

Before I've even watched this, I've been charmed by the closed captioning rynning across your video. "Common Bear"😂

[@jmilkslinger]

😂😂😂

[@Africantanman]

Hi Jennifer. I'm a massive fan of your videos from Cape Town! I've been making cheese on and off for around 2 years so your videos are really cool to watch. Have you ever heard of Langres cheese? When you were taking your little cheeses out of the moulds I thought that is what you were going for! 😂 You should look it up and see what the legend says about how you're supposed to use the concave top of the cheese! Thanks again for the amazing videos!

[@jmilkslinger]

Now I'm curious --- gonna go look it up!

[@cascades500]

Is there a difference between clabber and buttermilk? And how do you make your clabber? I have goats so I just make raw goat cheese. And you substitute your clabber for mesophilic cultures?

[@jmilkslinger]

Yes, there is a difference between the two. Clabber can be used in place of meso and thermo cultures. (When I have it on hand, I use it for ALL my cheeses.) How To Make Clabber: bit.ly/3nX5u3v (blog) How to Make Clabber: bit.ly/3VPX1Me (KZbin)

[@Karina-gs6zc]

I’m cracking up. You are hysterical.

[@mistymarr4594]

What brand and size are the containers that hold 4 cheeses? The one with the blue-ish lid?

[@jmilkslinger]

I just checked --- no brand name that I can see. I got them at our Dollar Store, I think. Just any old cheap, shallow containers will work!

[@johnhowaniec5979]

Would regular wax paper work for wrapping?

[@jmilkslinger]

No --- it's my understanding that wax paper doesn't allow the necessary airflow.

[@johnhowaniec5979]

@@jmilkslinger damn something else to buy 😞

[@jmilkslinger]

@@johnhowaniec5979 I know!! But it's worth it in this case...

[@kayrams1792]

Your children are lucky. A cheesey mom

[@lorenzochaconlopez9956]

Gran trabajo Soy maestro quesero y te recomiendo que la concentración de sal sea del 1-1,5% en lugar del 2%. Ya que cuanto más lo madures más se notará el exceso de sal. Igualmente es un gran trabajo, te ha salido muy bien!

[@jmilkslinger]

Qué buena idea --- tiene razón! Voy a probarlo así la próxima vez. Gracias!

[@mariomene2051]

Fun

[@Adnancorner]

I think you need them to get the whey out completely. They were NOT going down and shrinking in size due to the fact they were dipped in water the whole time. Perhaps draining the whey out into a set up where whey drips out of the cheese mold would be a good option.

[@jmilkslinger]

Maybe. . . but I don't quite think that's true because ricotta drains just fine sitting in a whole pan of whey. I suspect the bigger issue is that the curds weren't cut and/or I wasn't patient enough. I think I just need to make more of them and get more familiar with the process, tweaking as I go.

[@cascades500]

And I take it you make the cheese out of raw milk is that correct? And what's the deal about having to age at 60 days ? by law? But great video. I made some Camembert but I think it got too wet in there because they said you're supposed to have high humidity. So I put water at the bottom and got the blue mold.. or blue green mold.

[@jmilkslinger]

Yes, I use raw milk. 60 days is a law thing . . . maybe? I don't pay much attention to those rules, so I'm not sure. Re humidity: if you have sitting water/condensation --- that's too much. Wipe it out.

[@odettetruter1554]

Hi i was just wondering, why dont you cut the curds.

[@jmilkslinger]

Because the recipe I was following didn't say to, but I know other recipes have you cut the curds first. Either way, I guess!

[@user-mg4jd4yb3l]

Where do you buy your bacteria for making camembert

[@jmilkslinger]

New England Cheesemaking Supply. (The exact links are in the description box below the video.)

[@Stillpoint23]

You are an exotic creature 😊

[@SamayoaMoran]

Hi! I'm your new subscriber, greeting you from Mexico. 😍🇲🇽 Let's see: I see some details that perhaps should be considered 1. ¿Why don't you try cutting the curd into 1 inch cubes? If you let these curds rest for 10 minutes you will be able to manipulate the molding better. 2. In your salting, I see that you used more salt to salt the sides of the cheese than you had estimated with the 2% salt formula. Could that be the reason why it is salty? The formula I knew was the weight of the cheese x 0.02 to be exact. If you have a 200 gram cheese, then it requires approximately 4 grams of salt 3. I see that you matured the cheeses very well and I have a question regarding your clabber, since I also use naturals cultures: How was the final acidification of your cheese? Was it a lot or was it very soft? I want to try it with natural culture but I want to avoid excessive acidity. Thanks for sharing your experience and method. God bless you ❤

[@mcanultymichelle]

My first time making cheese, the cheddar cheese l made thinks it’s a Camembert cheese,it’s kind of heavy (damp in the middle)It’s been 5days and still moisture is coming out ?????🥴

[@jmilkslinger]

I suspect the curds weren't cooked quite long enough. (But I don't know for sure, of course.) If you're comfortable messing around, you could crumble it up, heat the curds, and then re-press it. Or check out this video where I made mozzarella from a too-soft wheel: bit.ly/3MemzxU

[@papasmurf9146]

Some day I should try store bought common-bear cheese before trying to make it. (Okay, throw away comment to help the algorithm).

[@Afaq-vw6hm]

Perhaps if you cut the cheese, it would have drained faster.

[@carolinekollmesch4834]

You're right by how you say "Camembert" - hey it's a french word - Americans are not so good in foreign words / languages ;)