Why Did My Baked Camembert Go Wrong?

[Chappers]

I've baked camembert a number of times, usually with a few sprigs of rosemary and liberal slivers of garlic.

I normally get the camembert from this fabulous cheese stall in Chichester market but recently I picked up some cheap stuff from Tesco. I figured it would work the same as I'm baking it but it didn't behave in the same way!

Instead of it going all gooey and delicious, it went sort of...plasticcy. A little bit like an overcooked souffle. I did everything the same but it was almost inedible.

What do you guys think the problem was? Someone suggested it may be because the cheap one was made with pasturised milk but I'm thinking that it might simply be a case of you get what you pay for. The camembert from Chichester market was mature, ripe and fragrant whilst the Tesco one was young, hard and had no flavour.

Any theories?

[merciasounds]

Age definitely has something to do with it, the more yellow the colour the older it gets, also, a 'real' camembert is made from raw milk, Trash-co's was probably pasturised. Sorry, I don't like Tesco's anything!

[craft1948]

I'm surprised Chappers as I get lovely camembert from Tesco..........but I've never tried baking it.

[anneasquith]

maybe the tesco one required less cooking ?

[Chappers]

merciasounds, I'm not a huge fan of Tesco, I don't buy an awful lot there but I can't write them off completely. Their finest range of sausages are excellent as is their own brand of peanut butter (and I'm a peanut butter aficionado)

craft1948, Tesco do sell some good camembert, this particular one was their own brand, very cheapest one (£1.30ish) I don't know if you've tried that?

anneasquith, would over-cooking it result in the strange, plasticcy/scrambled egg texture do you think?

[Chappers]

merciasounds, the age factor was my first thought. The Tesco one was particularily young and bland. I'm baking some camembert tonight, I bought some from Chichester market and it's REALLY mature! I've left it out of the fridge for the last two days and I'm sure it's going to be fantastic!

[Ratty2E]

I have had the same problem with cheap camembert, and it went in the bin it was horrible. I am afraid i don't know why it happens but I only buy good quality now and it always comes out fine. I think it is a case of you get what you pay for in this instance.

[Chappers]

Well I've done some experiments and it's all down to maturity!

Doesn't matter if it's pasturised or not, if I leave the cheap, pasturised, Tesco Camembert out of the fridge for a few days to soften up and mature (even though it's pasturised, it does) it then bakes up a treat.