22 BULLETIN 1171, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 
cheese comes from the salting process, it should have a certain firm- 
ness, and in the course of a few days should take on a greasy appear- 
ance and emit a yeasty odor. The curd should taste acid, and Marre 4 
says it should give off an odor as of well-ripened apples. The mold 
develops and is followed by red slime. The cheese is then dried to 
a point suitable for marketing and boxed, and by this time should 
have ripened to a depth of about one-fourth inch. When the cheese 
is boxed in from 12 to 15 days not so much attention is required in 
controlling the curing conditions. Provided the factory is properly 
constructed for curing this cheese, no great difficulty should be expe- 
rienced in handling it. In cases where the curing rooms used are not 
well controlled a clear understanding of the factors concerned in the 
curing of the cheese is more essential. There are three factors which 
affect the manufacture of an excellent Camembert cheese — the tem- 
perature, the relative humidity, and the ventilation. 
Temperature. — Camembert cheese should be ripened at a tem- 
perature of from 52 to 58° F. In factories where refrigeration is 
not available and the curing conditions are more or less subject to 
climatic conditions, the difficulties of making this cheese are greatly 
increased. Under such circumstances the cheese is made only in the 
colder months, and the temperature is brought to the desired point 
by means of steam pipes. In general, the temperature should be 
higher in the initial stages of curing than later, when the curing or- 
ganisms have reached their maximum development. All efforts in 
the initial stages of ripening are directed toward the establishment 
of a healthy growth of the Camembert mold. This can best be ac- 
complished at a temperature of 55 to 58° F. As the curing progresses 
a lower temperature, from 50 to 52° F. is desirable. This tempera- 
ture should be maintained after the cheese is placed in boxes and 
crated. 
Relative humklity and ventilation. — The relative humidity and 
ventilation are varied according to the moisture content of the cheese 
and the stage of ripening. Formerly much of the Camembert cheese 
made in this country was ripened in rooms which depended upon 
open windows to dry out the cheese to a point suitable for shipment. 
With the uncut curd the mold appears to develop more rapidly than 
with the cut curd, and there is always a tendency for the mold to 
to form a heavy coating ; consequently much more attention must be 
given to removing the excess whey from the cheese. Where refrig- 
eration is lacking and where the curing rooms have not been con- 
structed for the purpose of handling Camembert cheese, the factors 
of relative humidity and ventilation are of great importance. 
Most of the modern equipment is provided with refrigerating ma- 
chinery and special curing rooms, and as a consequence the ripening 
conditions are far less difficult to regulate. When made on a large 
scale, the cheese itself aids materially in maintaining a high humidity, 
and little difficulty is experienced in this respect. This is especially 
true when the cheese is cured in the basement of the building. A 
certain amount of ventilation is desirable, yet under certain con- 
ditions this may be so great as to cause the cheese to be hard and 
dry. The French recommend the use of several rooms for curing the 
4 Francis Marre. Le Probleme Juridique de Camembert. Editions Scientifiques Fran- 
gaises, Paris, 1915. Page 28. 
