Making

Cheese Making Homepage

Cheese Making Steps

Basic Principles
Milk:
◦ Types
◦ Processing
◦ Yield
◦ Products
Acidification
Starter Cultures:
◦ Function
◦ Manufacturers
◦ Manufactured Products
Lipases
Colourants:
◦ General
◦ Annatto
Acids
Coagulation
Calcium Chloride
Rennets:
◦ Animal
◦ Plant
◦ Microbial
◦ Fermentation
Milk Additives
Curd:
◦ When to Cut
◦ How to Cut
Salt:
◦ Function
◦ Types
◦ Salting Curds
◦ Salting Rinds
Pressing Curds
Brine:
◦ Making
◦ Using
◦ Maintaining
◦ For Preserving
Turning Cheeses
Ripening
Rinds:
◦ General
◦ Natural
◦ Ash

Defects

General:
◦ Coagulation
◦ Surface
◦ Body
◦ Aroma
◦ Flavour
Specific:
◦ Blue Mould
◦ White Mould

Equipment

Books
Cheese Caves
Cheesecloths
Hygrometers
Mats
Miscellaneous
pH Meters
Scales
Vats (Stockpots)
Thermometers

Brine - Maintaining

This page is divided into the following topics:

1. General
2. Cleaning Brine
3. Rebuilding Brine
4. Storing Brine

General

Brines above 16% salt are a hostile environment to bacteria, and older cheesemakers say that you should not dispose of brine but rather just replenish the salt absorbed by the cheese. But, in today's climate of high hygiene, it is advisable to change you brine solution periodically. Brines that are not replenished will result in a brine lower than 16% salt and will become contaminated with unwanted brine resistent bacteria.

Cleaning Brine

1. Skim the surface of the brine for bits of cheese shortly after each use with a very fine mesh tool (such as a plastic swimming pool skimmer).
2. To cloudy, to clarify, periodically pour or pump used brine through paper towel or cheesecloth lined strainer/colander, toss paper towel, clean cheesecloth. You can also use this as an opportunity to clean the tank and surrounding area.
3. If in poor shape, then boil the brine to kill off any brine resistent microorganisms such as listeria.
4. Note, do not allow a smear of slime to develop on the sides of the bath above the water line, this will be fat and a habitat for bacterial growth.

Rebuilding Brine

1. For un-saturated brine, stir in additional non-iodized NaCl salt to bring you back to target % as measured by a solometer.
2. For saturated brine, re-boil and stir in additional non-iodized NaCl salt until it no longer dissolves, cool to using temperature.
3. Note, after using newly made brine, pH and calcium level should normally not need to be adjusted, assuming brine is used reasonably frequently.

Storing Brine

Store the brine covered at -60°F/15.6°C application temperature or lower if possible.