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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Normandy, Île-de-France, Champagne

Bloomy-rind soft cheese family (Camembert de Normandie as template)Camembert de Normandie

Soured cow milk is set with rennet and the soft curd is ladled into moulds, where it drains by its own weight. After dry salting, a white felt of Penicillium camemberti and Geotrichum candidum grows over the cheese and ripens it from the rind inward in a few weeks. Made in 7 steps over 37 days. The longest step, box and finish ripening, takes at least 22 days (INAO). Salt is 1.5–1.8 % (Ramet J.P. 2001). Mesophilic lactic starter bacteria and Penicillium camemberti do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 22 daysSet[camembert-cdc][brie-cdc]Box and finish ripening
Temperatureup to 22 °CSet[camembert-cdc]Mature the milk with starter
Salt1.5–1.8 %Reported[fao-ramet2001]Dry-salt
AciditypH 5.8Measured[bittante2022]Box and finish ripening
Fully documentedCheese37 days

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceFamily template, so the ingredients are the ones bloomy-rind cheeses share. The only amount is the rennet limit of the Camembert de Normandie PDO rules.
Cow milk · Raw, never heated above 40 °C, for Camembert de Normandie PDO; pasteurised for many others[camembert-cdc]
Mesophilic lactic starter · Sours the milk before renneting[lessard2012][camembert-cdc]
Ripening cultures · Penicillium camemberti, Geotrichum candidum and yeasts[lessard2012]
Up to 23 ml per 100 L milkAnimal rennet · Camembert de Normandie PDO limit, at a strength of 520 mg chymosin per litre[camembert-cdc]
Dry salt[camembert-cdc][fao-ramet2001]
Calcium chloride · Allowed by the Camembert de Normandie rules[camembert-cdc]
Startermesophilic lactic starter plus Penicillium camemberti, Geotrichum candidum and yeasts

Total time across the recorded steps: 37 days

Start
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Milk sugarLactic acidup to 22 °Cshapes, not to countPenicillium camembertiGeotrichum candidumYeastsDebaryomyces hansenii

What changes: Starter bacteria start turning milk sugar into lactic acid

Step 1 of 7
Mature the milk with starter
Time
up to 24 h
Set
Temperature
up to 22 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Penicillium camemberti
Geotrichum candidum
Yeasts
Debaryomyces hansenii
Moulds

Camembert de Normandie milk may be stored at most 72 h from the oldest milking. Output: matured milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
liquid
Colour
white

Microbes at work in this step

starter bacteria begin to turn milk sugar into lactic acid

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

What makes this one different

The rind is a white felt of Penicillium camemberti and Geotrichum candidum grown in a humid room. The moulds eat lactic acid and raise the surface pH, so the paste softens from the outside in. Washed-rind cheeses grow an orange bacterial smear instead, and lactic goat cheeses start from a much more acid, slower curd.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Brie de Meaux PDOLarge flat disc of 2.6–3.3 kg from raw milk; at least 4 weeks of ripening.
  • Brie de Melun PDOMore lactic, with a longer acid set; smaller and saltier.
  • Double and triple crème (Brillat-Savarin, Chaource)Cream added for a richer paste.
  • Stabilised industrial camembertPasteurised milk and a curd that holds its shape longer.

Made the bloomy-rind soft cheese family way

Safety

Camembert de Normandie and Brie de Meaux are made from raw milk, and the rind loses its acid barrier as it ripens (from pH 4.5 to about 8 in a lab Camembert). The UK NHS advises pregnant women to eat mould-ripened soft cheeses such as brie and camembert only when cooked until steaming hot, because of Listeria.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, the reason soft mould-ripened cheeses carry pregnancy advice.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

Camembert is linked to Marie Harel of Camembert, Orne, at the end of the 18th century (1995 EU registration summary).

  1. [camembert-cdc] INAO, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine Camembert de Normandiespec
  2. [camembert-eu1995] EU registration summary, Camembert de Normandie PDO (1995), eAmbrosia attachment 71553spec
  3. [brie-cdc] INAO, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine Brie de Meaux, modified 20 March 2019spec
  4. [fao-ramet2001] Ramet J.P. 2001, The technology of making cheese from camel milk (Camelus dromedarius), FAO Animal Production and Health Paper 113, chapter on soft and mould-ripened cheese methodsbook
  5. [lessard2012] Lessard M.H., Bélanger G., St-Gelais D., Labrie S. 2012, The composition of Camembert cheese-ripening cultures modulates both mycelial growth and appearance, Applied and Environmental Microbiology 78:1813–1819paper
  6. [bittante2022] Bittante G., Amalfitano N., Cipolat-Gotet C. et al. 2022, Major causes of variation of external appearance, chemical composition, texture, and color traits of 37 categories of cheeses, Foods 11:4041paper
  7. [nhs-preg] NHS (UK), Foods to avoid in pregnancy (cheese section)gov