Baked Camembert disaster -help!

Sorry, forget to load the photo.

The cheese might have been under ripe.

If you've used the dish in the same way successfully using a different brand I'd suspect it's the cheese.

It is the first time I have used the dish, Baubles, but I do suspect the cheese wasn't ripe.

That's a shame shysal because it is yummy when it cooks properly.

It looks like you scored the top fine. You do, however, need a soft cheese to start with, so maybe yours was under ripe.

I always cook it in the box, but put the lid under the base for extra support. I never got on with the dish.

I got the dish so that I could use the microwave sometimes. The staples on the box need removing for that, then it falls apart . The best are the cheeses in a sort of petal shaped wooden bowl. Next time I shall pay more for a good quality cheese and ditch the dish!
Luckily the visitors were family and I didn't have to impress them.

I have always baked camambert in the oven. How can you bake in a microwave?

I wrap in thin dough and bake it in the oven, never the microwave.

I use oven or microwave, result is the same. Originally I bought a cheese in Asda which was intended for the MW (no staples), I think it took 2-3 minutes. The packaging was in French with an English translation stuck on the back. I find this method easier if visitors want to sit down to eat straight away on arrival, so no harm done if they are running late. This way of cooking is also simple to do a wedge for a single portion in a ramekin, takes a few seconds only. I usually add a bit of oil and honey plus a chopped brazil nut - yum!
www.downthelane.net/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=47337

Do you not use dough? I assume not, dough wouldn't brown?

I have never used dough in oven or MW, just the box or my new special dish. One day I will try oven baking inside a loaf of bread, I fancy that.

I have done camembert as I saw on Facebook, as the centrepiece of a puff pastry star with cranberry sauce and bacon bits. It was yummy. Will try to find it on FB and post.

Found it. twistedfood.co.uk/camembert-snowflake/ Mine was messier to make than the video (I suspect they had practised a few times before videoing it) and the camembert melted more, so we couldn't dip the pastry into it as they did, had to use a fish slice to serve it out as slices, but it vanished pretty fast.

I make this with camembert or brie, lovely. Sometimes I bake the parcel without fruit or veg.

allrecipes.co.uk/recipe/6444/baked-brie-parcel-with-caramelised-onion-and-apple.aspx?o_is=SimilarRecipes_ATF&o_ln=SimRecipes_Photo_1

Sounds and looks lovely, Norah. I have some left-over caramelized onions in the freezer, so I am half way there! I must resist. I must resist!

I think the problem was the 99p cheese.

I've only ever seen it breadcrumbed and then baked. (Or deep-fried, but that's a matter of taste - creates a smell and is more of a faff)

As you're usually well-practised in the art of Camembert cooking, I will abstain from making any comments.

Well, being me, I can't really abstain completely. Ceramic is probably thicker and more heat-resistant than the thin wood (or cardboard?) of the box, so perhaps a longer, slower bake would have produced the desired results.

And a question in the round - do you leave it to stand for a bit, or do you find it goes hard again?

My money is on the cheese!

Thanks for the links to recipes, I'll definitely have to try those.

PS I think it's the cheese too. I have a similar problem with cheap cheese from one of the other low cost retailers.

The cheese without a doubt. It's worth paying a bit more for a good ripe cheese.

Was the oven hot enough? maybe leave the lid off or cover in tin foil and put lid on just to serve.

We v tried baked Camembert several ways .....we have the special dish .

We finally cooked it properly ...in 20 mins in the oven ...about 150. Leaving the lid off.

The lid ,,,,we think, is just for show when you present the cheese at the table .

?

I've tried the cheese In bread it was lovely. A 800g Tiger loaf take out the middle about the same size of what would have been the box place cheese in and cut across the rest of the bread I think its call hedgehog bread then drizzle the cuts with garlic butter or olive oil with garlic in it. I think I might just have to make some this weekend