# Something slightly different...



## Sanguine (Jun 28, 2013)

Hii everyone!
I wanted to share my fuzzy little friend with you. It's a camembert which I made june 7th, which means that it will be of age soon! It's already starting to feel softer in the middle. So hoping this one will be creamy on the inside. Previous one was a sad fail... Didnt get creamy and then I waited to long for it to get creamy so it got older and got an amonium smell (les francais seem to like it, but I sure don't!)



Homemade camembert cheese by Ileandra, on Flickr

I know it's not soap, but a person has got to eat between soaping to, no?
Thanks for watching!


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## dagmar88 (Jun 28, 2013)

It looks mouth watering!

Next step casu marzu?


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## Sanguine (Jun 28, 2013)

Let's pray (very,very,VERY) hard that that cheese never happens to me. The idea on itself already makes my stomach complain 
Once saw antonio carluccio eat in italy with sheep herders in the middle of nowhere. Why would one want to make, or eat, cheese with maggots in it? The extra protein?


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## thefarmerdaughter (Jun 28, 2013)

Love it! making cheese is on my bucket list!


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## dagmar88 (Jun 28, 2013)

To soften it up (it starts as regular hard sheep cheese) and it is said to work as an aphrodisiac.
 I don't think I'd kiss my boyfriend for at least a month though.


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## lsg (Jun 28, 2013)

Mmmm, looks delicious!


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## Skatergirl46 (Jun 28, 2013)

That looks tasty. Just need a knife and some good crackers and wine! 
I'll pass on the maggots please :sick:


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## nebetmiw (Jun 28, 2013)

I just became a big fan of goat cheese.  Went to goat school and got to try some.  We are getting our goats as soon as fencing is done.  Your looks amazing.  Hope this time it works for you.


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## Sanguine (Jun 28, 2013)

Goat school? Now i have a vision of baby goats with glasses sitting on a schoolbench. 
Not wanting to make fun of you ofc! What's it like? Do they teach you to make goat's milk cheese or how to keep goats? My mom used to have goats when she was little, but they had a certain scent she can't forget which make her stay far away from the meat, milk and cheese. I'm not gonna make a cheese that won't be eaten so I don't make it. 

Anyone who'd ever try a basic fresh cheese: heat a quart of milk (can chose what type) till it starts to simmer and add the juice of a lemon. You should see it starting to separate, if after a couple of minutes it's still not separating add some more lemon. Pour the whole thing through a cheesecloth (or a kitchen towel, rinse first to get rid of soap, its not so tasty...). Drain the whey of (takes between 1 and 2hrs), add salt and herbs and give it a try! (It's better if it has been chilled in the fridge for a while)
I believe this is a common "recipe" in the US. People in the US seem to make a lot more homemade things then people in europe or is that just me?


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## bodhi (Jun 28, 2013)

Ooh yummy!


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## julieanne (Jun 28, 2013)

Too funny! We as a soaping group would probably test high for interest in making goat cheese. There must be a correlation!! 

Beautiful cheese, you got there Sanguine. And, like Skatergirl46, (as I get chills at the imagery) no maggots for me! Now I'm choking at the thought. Moving on before the heaves come next.


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## Kersten (Jun 28, 2013)

That looks absolutely divine! To me, the stinkier the cheese, the better 

I am a cheese fanatic! One of the hardest things for me about moving back to the States - and I'm not kidding here - is that I wasn't going to have access to all the wonderful cheese markets like you find throughout Europe! I almost couldn't bare the thought. I've had to resort to cheese clubs online to get my fix, as the town I live in has a very poor selection. I really wish the laws were more favorable for small, artisan cheese makers here. I think the way things are now, it makes it difficult to have a thriving cheese culture (no pun intended ;-) in the States.

I do make my own fresh mozzarella, though.


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## Aunt Polly (Jun 28, 2013)

Kersten said:


> That looks absolutely divine! To me, the stinkier the cheese, the better
> 
> I really wish the laws were more favorable for small, artisan cheese makers here.
> I do make my own fresh mozzarella, though.


 The only thing we have here is artisan beer makers!


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## savonierre (Jun 28, 2013)

That look fabulous..


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## nebetmiw (Jun 28, 2013)

LOL goat school is for new people wanting goats to learn how to care for them and make goat product for personal use.

My BIL is really wanting to make cheese.  i have the BOOK that I bought a few years ago.  Just never got all the starters and stuff.  This winter project.


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## bodhi (Jun 28, 2013)

Kersten said:


> I really wish the laws were more favorable for small, artisan cheese makers here.





Aunt Polly said:


> The only thing we have here is artisan beer makers!



And soap makers!

Oh how i wish we were allowed to have artisan smoked and dried meats in the US too!  Prosciutto, salami,etc.  

I think I could die a happy woman any day of the week if i could walk to a local market and pick up a nice cheese, prosciutto, just out of the oven bread, have it with a nice young wine and wash it all off with a nicely aged castile(preferably mine).   We need to work on the laws here.


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## Kersten (Jun 28, 2013)

bodhi said:


> And soap makers!
> 
> Oh how i wish we were allowed to have artisan smoked and dried meats in the US too!  Prosciutto, salami,etc.  e.



You're in luck!! I read a few weeks ago that they lift the ban. Let me go try and find the article and I'll post it here 

Edit: here it is http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/04/30/cured-meat-ban-italy-usda_n_3187462.html


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## bodhi (Jun 28, 2013)

OMG!! I think i just died with the biggest speck eating grin ever!  My dried meat smuggler maybe not so much, lol.  

Thank you!


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## Sanguine (Jun 29, 2013)

I thought it was allowed in the US to make all these products? I've seen many people make cheese and cured meats. And the good thing is: the same cultures are used for the cheese and the meat!
Been thinking to make cured meats to, but dont really have a spot to cure them


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## nebetmiw (Jun 29, 2013)

Not sure what you are thinking about but meat is not cured with same culters as cheese.  Meat is done with spices and salt and sugar or in a brine.  Yes, it is allowed to make them if you are doing it for personal use or are USDA lic and inspected.  Just not for sale of the farm.


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## Half Caper Farm (Jun 29, 2013)

Sanguine said:


> Goat school? Now i have a vision of baby goats with glasses sitting on a schoolbench.
> Not wanting to make fun of you ofc! What's it like? Do they teach you to make goat's milk cheese or how to keep goats? My mom used to have goats when she was little, but they had a certain scent she can't forget which make her stay far away from the meat, milk and cheese. I'm not gonna make a cheese that won't be eaten so I don't make it.
> 
> Anyone who'd ever try a basic fresh cheese: heat a quart of milk (can chose what type) till it starts to simmer and add the juice of a lemon. You should see it starting to separate, if after a couple of minutes it's still not separating add some more lemon. Pour the whole thing through a cheesecloth (or a kitchen towel, rinse first to get rid of soap, its not so tasty...). Drain the whey of (takes between 1 and 2hrs), add salt and herbs and give it a try! (It's better if it has been chilled in the fridge for a while)
> I believe this is a common "recipe" in the US. People in the US seem to make a lot more homemade things then people in europe or is that just me?




My goat kids would be tapdancing on the bench.  

I make my cheese like that, only with white vinegar rather than lemon juice.  Sometimes, I leave it as a soft ricotta-like cheese,  but more often I make it into a pressed, feta-like cheese.  I line a container (that has drain  holes) with cheesecloth, spoon the salted (cheese salt or coarse pickling salt - not iodized)  cheese into it, cover it with the cheesecloth then put a weight on top.  After a few hours, I take it out, unwrap it and turn it over, re-wrap and put it back with a bit more weight for another 12 hours or so.   Unwrap, rub it with coarse pickling salt, then cover with plastic and let it sit in the fridge for a few days.  Great chunked into salads or spaghetti sauce, or  sliced in sandwiches - doesn't melt though.  Best eaten within the week or it tends to get rather goaty.


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## Sanguine (Jun 30, 2013)

nebetmiw said:


> Not sure what you are thinking about but meat is not cured with same culters as cheese.  Meat is done with spices and salt and sugar or in a brine.  Yes, it is allowed to make them if you are doing it for personal use or are USDA lic and inspected.  Just not for sale of the farm.



I'm thinking about sausages, is that not cured? I've seen people use the same culture for those sausages with the white outside, as they use for brie, camembert and all the others white fuzzy cheeses


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## bodhi (Jun 30, 2013)

Sanguine said:


> I'm thinking about sausages, is that not cured? I've seen people use the same culture for those sausages with the white outside, as they use for brie, camembert and all the others white fuzzy cheeses



Yeah, there are a couple places that are allowed to do meats, but not the same as the originals.  

And now we all know where to get our cheeses


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## mel z (Jun 30, 2013)

For sausages just google curing sausages. They are different than salting or smoking meats and using that meat for sausage. It is fascinating and fun, look for the old school recipes.

And for cheese, oh my, it is different for each cheese, the ingredients, curing, curing places are important, I could go on, but maybe DeeAnn can step in with the chemical processes means and reasons why. DeeAnn, can you do a show on PBS??? (Hint, Hint, nudge, nudge, wink, wink.)


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## houseofwool (Jun 30, 2013)

I've been on a cheese and yogurt making binge lately.  I made feta cheese last week that was fantastic, but tedious.


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## Sanguine (Jul 14, 2013)

I made a feta cheese a few months ago. That wasn't a succes 
I added it to a brine to let it cure a few weeks, after 3 weeks I let my dad try it first (my dad is ALWAYS the guinea pig ). It was awfully salt so I poured 50% of my brine away and added fresh water instead. After 3 days the feta just started to dissolve (loss of calcium we know now) it sure was a strange sight!
Opened up my brie a week ago, good taste, sadly not creamy on the inside and a bit to salt on the aftertaste. Atleast it was better then my previous one


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