Look! More yoghurt! Isn't it fun?
I also made another batch of camembert. I'm much happier with this one. So far it seems like I got the texture spot-on, which is very satisfying.
So, because it's such a soft cheese, the curds get cut much larger than for a hard cheese, handled less and more delicately, and don't get heated at all. My mistake last time was cutting the curds too small, which causes them to expel more whey and become firmer.
After the cutting and the little bit of stirring, the curds get transferred to the molds. If you've done everything correctly, they should be soft enough to scoop up with a pitcher and pour smoothly into the rounds. It was at this point last time that I noticed something was wrong, as they were much clumpier than they should have been. This time the pouring went quite well.
After the cutting and the little bit of stirring, the curds get transferred to the molds. If you've done everything correctly, they should be soft enough to scoop up with a pitcher and pour smoothly into the rounds. It was at this point last time that I noticed something was wrong, as they were much clumpier than they should have been. This time the pouring went quite well.
The mini cheeses are then left to drain for 3 hours, after which they have lost quite a bit of whey and are just firm enough to stand on their own. They have to be flipped to facilitate even draining.
They are barely solid enough to pick up very gently. It's like holding a handful of jelly. But after a bit of practise you get used to it, and it's actually a pretty fun task.
So I flipped them once already, and will flip them again just before I go to bed (which is quite soon) and then once more early in the morning. They could stand to be flipped once more tonight, but since I made them after yoghurt, it's much too late for that.