UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
DEPARTMENT BULLETIN No. 1171 
Washington, D. C. 
August 30, 1923 
THE MANUFACTURE OF CAMEMBERT CHEESE. 
By Kenneth J. Mathesox, Dairy Manufacturing Specialist, and S. A. Hall, 
Scientific Assistant in Dairying, Dairy Division, Bureau of Animal Industry. 
Development of the Camembert-cheese 
industry 
Characteristics of Camembert cheese- 
Food value 
Composition of Camembert cheese__ 
Quality of milk required 
The making process 
Standardizing the milk 
Quantity of starter to use 
Acidity of milk at renneting 
Temperature 
Setting the milk and adding 
rennet 
Curdling period 
Arrangement of hoops and mats- 
Cutting the curd 
Methods of dipping 
Draining 
Yield 
Salting 
Inoculation with mold 
Growing mold for inoculation. _. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
7 
7 
7 
8 
8 
9 
10 
10 
10 
12 
Page. 
Factory equipment 12 
Special equipment for the "make" 
room 13 
Construction and equipment of 
ripening rooms 15 
Drying machine 17 
The ripening of Camembert cheese 18 
Oidium ripening 18 
Camembert-mold ripening 20 
" Ferments rouges," or red 
growth 20 
Foreign molds 21 
Conditions of ripening 21 
Wrapping and boxing 23 
Cost of manufacture 25 
Wholesale and retail prices 25 
Some economic factors 26 
Making Camembert on the farm 27 
Summary 28 
DEVELOPMENT OF THE CAMEMBERT-CHEESE INDUSTRY. 
Camembert cheese was first made by Marie Fountain in 1791. at 
Camembert. near Argentan, in the Department of Orne, in north- 
) western France, but it was not until some years later that the cheese 
was made on an extensive scale. The industry soon extended into 
Calvados, and these two Departments are still the principal seats of 
the industry. 
The first factories built in the United States were copied after 
those of Europe and experienced cheeseinakers were brought to this 
country to carry on the work. Early attempts to establish the in- 
dustry here were for the most part failures. The commercial manu- 
facture of Camembert cheese, in fact, presents many difficulties. Suc- 
cess can be attained only by experience, by close attention to details, 
by proper curing conditions, and by the use of pure cultures, for 
) without such cultures the product is defective and there are great 
losses. The American manufacturer found it difficult to produce 
cheese of a quality to compare with that made in France, as well 
as to meet the foreign competition in price, even with freight and 
duty charges added to the cost of the imported product. This com- 
48434°— 23 1 
