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 - For Preserving Cheese

This page is divided into the following topics:

1. General
2. Brine Concentration
3. Brine Fluid
4. Using Brine Preserved Cheese

General

Aging or preserving cheese in brine is common with Aegean Sea originated cheeses such as φέτα/Feta/Fetta, Brinza, Halloumi, Suluguni, Domiati, Nabulsi, Gyptian, Gibna Bayda, Arabian Cheese, Akawi where depending upon recipe, they can be stored up to 12 months.

Brine Concentration

Brines used to store these cheeses are normally 16% salt, the minimum for minimizing unwanted bacteria growth.

Higher % salt could be used, but is not required and will make the cheese taste very salty.

Lower % salt will result in a more immediately edible cheese but with shorter shelf life due to unwanted bacteria growth.

Brine Fluid

Brine are normally made using water as the base fluid, the exception is brine for preserving cheese. Here options are water, half water and half whey, or all whey from your cheese making. Using whey gives the brine a higher calcium component and a lower pH, reducing the need for the addition of CaCl2 and vinegar in newly made brine. The use of whey also makes the brine preserved cheese more flavourful. Many people who use whey for the base of their brine boil it first.

Using Brine Preserved Cheese

16% brine preserved cheese, if used in a cooking recipe is fine, but if eaten directly is to most people, very salty to the taste. Methods to reduce the salty taste are:

1. Remove cheese from brine and soak in fresh water or milk for up to 1 hour before consuming.
2. Instead of all NaCl salt, use up to 50% KCl (Potassium Chloride) salt.