What you will need to make 3 cheeses, approx. 250g each: 

Most of the components are supplied as a part of the the  Epicurean Camembert/Blue Cheese Kit

• 7½ Litres Full Cream Milk (cow or goat)
• 2 ml Calcium Chloride dissolved in ¼ cup cool water (only add when using homogenised milk)
• ¼ teaspoon of Penecillium Roqueforti (Blue Mould)
• ½ teaspoon MM100 Mesophilic Culture
• 5 ml Rennet dissolved in 20ml of cooled boiled water
• 2 tablespoons Cheese Salt
• 2 teaspoons of Cheese Salt for sprinkling
• 1 aging container with lid and draining mat
• 2 bamboo sushi mats
• 3 large Camembert hoops

Method:

1. Clean and sterilise everything that will be used during the cheese making process!
2. Prepare the Starter. The day before cheese making, prepare a “MM100 Mesophilic Culture” starter as described in “Cheese Making Basics”.
3. Preparing the Milk. Warm the milk to 32°C if using cow’s milk or 30°C if using goat’s milk (if using homogenised milk, add the Calcium Chloride solution at this time). Add the mould and the prepared starter and mix well. Leave covered at the same heat to ripen for 60 minutes.
4. Renneting. Gently stir in the diluted Rennet with an up and down motion for at least 1 minute. Cover and allow to set at 32°C if using cow’s milk or 30°C if using goat’s milk, for a further 45 minutes or until you get a “clean break”.
5. Cutting the Curd. Cut the curds (according to the method described in the “Cheese Making Basics” information sheet) into 2cm cubes. Allow to stand for 5 minutes to set. (allow a further 5 minutes if using goat’s milk).
6. Stirring the Curd. Turn all the curds over gently at 5 minute intervals to stop them from matting. Continue this for 60 minutes.
7. Rest the Curd. After the final turn, allow the curds to set for 5 minutes.
8. Preparing the Curd. Pour the curds and whey into a colander and allow it to drain for 5 minutes. Put the curds back into the pot and gently mix them by hand so as not to matt them. Add the salt and mix well. Allow the curds to rest for 5 minutes so that they set.
9. Filling the Hoops. Place a bamboo draining mat on a cutting board, cover with a sheet of greaseproof paper and place 3 cheese hoops on top. The greaseproof paper will stop the curds from falling through your draining mat. Filling is best done on the kitchen sink with one end of the board slightly elevated to allow the whey to drain away. Using your slotted spoon, scoop a small amount of curds into each hoop, then go back and put more in each and so on until they are evenly filled. Fill the hoops just short of the top. When turned repeatedly they will settle down to the thickness required. Leave to drain for 15 minutes.
10. Turning the Hoops. For the first turn, place another sheet of greaseproof paper on top of your hoops, then the second bamboo draining mat and finally a second cutting board. By holding both boards firmly you should be able to flip all the hoops over in one movement. From this point, greaseproof paper is no longer required. Turn your hoops every 15 minutes for the first 2 hours and then once an hour for the next 2 hours. Let them drain overnight covered with a tea towel.
11. Salting the Cheese. The following morning the young cheese will have firmed and pulled away from the edges of the hoop.  This indicates that they can now be removed for salting. Use a little more cheese salt and lightly sprinkle over the top, bottom and sides of the cheese. Shake off any excess salt and let stand for on a board for a total of three days at 15°C and a humidity of 85%. Make sure that the cheeses are re-salted and turned once a day during this time.
12. Spiking the Cheese. Using a sterilised meat skewer or knitting needle, poke 35 to 40 holes from the top of each cheese through to the bottom. This will allow the blue mold to travel through the cheese creating the “veins”.
13. Aging the Cheese. Place some paper towel then black plastic aging mat into the bottom of your aging container. Space your cheese on the draining mat and with the lid ajar, store in a cool humid environment at 10°C for 30 days. Turn every 4 days to avoid the cheese sticking to the mat. Elevate one end of your ripening container to allow any additional whey to drain away from your aging cheeses. Mold will appear within 10 days.
14. Scrape the Cheese. After 30 days, the blue mold will have covered the outside of the cheeses. There will also be a reddish-brown smear evident. Gently scrap the mold and the smear off the cheeses using a long-bladed knife. Follow this same procedure for 20 to 30 days.
15. Wrapping the Cheese. After 90 days of aging, scrape the cheeses one last time and wrap each cheese in foil.
16. Second Aging. Place the wrapped cheeses in the refrigerator and allow them to age a further 60 days between 1°C and 3°C. Turn the cheese on a weekly basis.
17. When is it Ready to Eat? Continue aging the cheese in the refrigerator for a further 3 months for a mild blue and 6 months for a more robust flavour.

For more cheese making recipes, we recommend the “Home Cheese Making” book by Ricki Carroll.