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Well had to turn the Brie last night, was a nervous moment as I wasn't sure if they would collapse, being fatter at one end, but they have held, at least long enough for a photo. The out side layer is quite robust, at least it is starting to look like a brie now.

Looks great. U cant punch holes in the mat so they can breath on the ends?

That was a thought I had, but not quite sure how big the holes would need to be, might be a good idea though, and then just place in the bottom of the roasting tin, which would allow air to them, I might give that some thought.

I first used yogurt lids stabed with a scissors, then found a bigger lid and drilled it with 1/8 2mll holes all over.

Looking good!

Can anyone describe the smell of the Brie as it begins to age, its just over 1 week old and is honking, is it spoilt?

Taken it out of the house into the rather cool garage, hope that won't affect it too much, but for the sake of my marriage I figured it was best out of the house.

I've had some strong amonia smells emanating from mine which seems to settle down after a while to the good smell of strong cheese. I've always made my cheeses in a cool garage so you may find it settles soon now you have moved it. I recall Rik saying the smell of amonia was normal, I'll look through the threads to see if I can find the reference.

Jen

jenny_haddow wrote:I've had some strong amonia smells emanating from mine which seems to settle down after a while to the good smell of strong cheese. I've always made my cheeses in a cool garage so you may find it settles soon now you have moved it. I recall Rik saying the smell of amonia was normal, I'll look through the threads to see if I can find the reference.

Jen

Thanks Jen, there is a small ammonia type smell, not as strong as the Stilton when that started (and since calmed), the smell is quite pungent, so it might just be cheese and ammonia. Will let you know if it calms down.

Normaly its becasue its ripening too fast, thats the reason for mine doing that.Check the temp, ripening temp is 10-12c, once it starts to bloom then it goes to 4-5c.

BlueCheese wrote:Normaly its becasue its ripening too fast, thats the reason for mine doing that.Check the temp, ripening temp is 10-12c, once it starts to bloom then it goes to 4-5c.

Thanks for that BC, the garage should be quite cool at the moment.

The smell has calmed down a lot since moving it to the garage. Its been 2 weeks now and according to Riks recipe its time to wrap it and leave it to age. I don't have cellophane, I hope greaseproof will do similar job.

I think I will leave them in the garage with the top off the pot they are in at present, there is no mention of specific RH for the ageing, so I guess the garage will do.

Here are latest photos

look real good

the recommended RH for ripening bries is quite high - 90+

The day of unveiling has arrived, cut through one of the 2 Brie and tried a bit, the centre looks very dry, almost Stilton texture, but the outside is soft just like a Brie. As for the taste, it is very strong, the inside bit is far too strong, almost sour, the outside was just a strong brie flavour. Photos enclosed.

Will the inside get better, or has it aged/dried too much?

Looks to me like it just needed ripening longer. I'd leave the other one another week, maybe two before trying it again.
If that's your first attempt then I'm impressed. I can't see anything wrong with it.
Well done Rich.