THE MANUFACTURE OF CAMEMBERT CHEESE. 21 
rooms. Should these organisms fail to develop after several months, 
it is advisable to inoculate again. A room which contains a large 
number of cheeses with a high humidity and little ventilation seems 
to favor the development of this surface fermentation. In factories 
where the cheese is made continuously the year round no great 
difficulty is experienced in developing surface slime. 
In inoculating with these organisms skim milk is heated to the 
boiling point for half an hour and then cooled to 70° F. and the 
culture added. After it has stood for two days the mats, boards, 
and cane bottoms are thoroughly sprinkled with the liquid culture. 
FOREIGN MOLDS. 
Foreign mold may contaminate Camembert cheese and cause it 
to be sold at a reduced price. Yeast and bacteria may be present 
in large numbers, but seldom if ever do these organisms exert any 
very harmful influence upon the cheese. Green molds, sometimes 
the Roquefort mold {PenieiV.ium roqueforti) , become numerous in 
factories and give the cheese a very unattractive appearance. Often 
these foreign molds impart unpleasant and bitter flavors to the 
cheese. According to Thorn, the most troublesome of these molds 
are PenicilJium brevicaule and two closely related varieties, which 
give off a strong ammoniacal odor. If allowed to grow unrestricted 
and with proper curing conditions the Camembert mold will grad- 
ually crowd out the obnoxious molds. 
Even under the best conditions foreign molds are always present, 
and they can be held in check only by scrupulous care in keeping 
equipment clean and regulating the curing conditions. The greatest 
trouble with foreign molds is experienced in the beginning of the 
season, when factories are just beginning to operate. When the 
cheese is made continuously this difficulty is seldom experienced. 
Before the start in each season it is advisable to clean and wash up 
all curing rooms, walls, and equipment and, wherever possible, to 
steam out the curing rooms for a few hours. All equipment possible 
should be boiled in water an hour or put into a sterilizer and steril- 
ized and then quickly dried. 
The mold spores are very light and may be carried by dust parti- 
cles to the cheese, so the curing rooms should be kept moist to reduce 
the chance of contamination to a minimum. The use of chemicals, 
formaldehyde gas, for example, has not been entirely successful as 
a means of eliminating foreign molds, although it aids in reducing 
them. Xo practical measures have been evolved which will eliminate 
them completely in the draining and curing rooms. Where they 
have become established in factories the best thing to do is to sterilize 
the equipment, keep the curing rooms moist, and reinoculate with 
Camembert mold by spraying a week or so before beginning the 
manufacture of cheese. This may be done with an atomizer. All 
parts of equipment that come in contact with the cheese, as well as 
the walls, doors, and windows, should be sprayed. 
CONDITIONS OF RIPENING. 
The ripening of Camembert cheese should be conducted in a man- 
ner to favor the proper flavor, texture, and appearance. As the 
