Author Topic: My 3rd Brie  (Read 7825 times)

JeffHamm

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My 3rd Brie
« on: April 20, 2013, 11:28:08 PM »
My last brie turned out so nicely that I thought it was worth attempting to replicate.  Friends of ours are heading back to Canada at the end of May, so this should be ready before they go.  Anyway, I've included a series of photos showing the make as I go.  Once the curds settle a bit, I'll put a 2nd mould on top and create a sort of container.  This makes flipping it easy.  When I try to make two of these, flipping is more of a challange, but I put needle point mats across and that works ok but you have to be careful. 

Oh, the image showing the piece of scrapped cam, just to be clear, I've scrapped the mould from both faces and the sides of that piece.  You can see it in the cup, and I add water to that.  I remove the big bits after stirring.

- Jeff

Brie (from 200 homemade cheese) Sunday, Apr 21, 2013: Barm 994, 22C, 72% humidity

5 Litres Silver top (4.0% fat, 3.3g protein/100 ml; pasteurized creamline)
4 ice cubes meso (3 MM MW3 + 1 buttermilk?)
¼ tsp CalCl (50%)
0.3 ml 750 IMCU Rennet
Section of rind from existing brie or cam (mashed about in boiled/cooled water – remove chunks)

1) add mould solution and culture and warm to 31 C (7:35 ; 32.3 C)
3) Ripen 30 minutes (7:35 - 8:06; 31.2 C) – I added a ripening time
4) add CaCl and then add rennet (8:06:00 ; 31.2 C)
5) floc time = 8:19:00 = 13 m 0 s 6x mulitiplier = 78 m 00 sec = cut time of 9:24:00)
6) cut into 2.5 cm cubes
7) let heal (15 minutes 9:24 - 9:39)
8) stir very gently 15 minutes (9:39 - 9:54) or until curd starts to shrink a bit
9) let settle
10) remove whey (to level of curd – I just used a slotted spoon, no whey removed)
11) ladel curds into to one ½ brie molds (9:54 - 10:08)  Filled one mould
12) settle 2 hours, then flip (flipped at 12:00 – put other mould on top, easy peasy)
13) settle 2 hours, flip (flipped at 2:00.)
14) flip every couple hours, then leave to drain overnight (flipped , 4:00, 6:00; 7:00 pm)
15) 7:00 am sprinkle the top of cheese with 1.5 tsp salt flip salt other side (1 tsp)
16) air dry for the day (until 6:00 pm ish)
16) put in the ripening box (on chopsticks and mat) and flip daily (removing any whey)
17) should see mould in 7  to 10 days, about day 12-14, wrap and leave in cheese fridge another week
18) after 1 more week (week 3 from make) move to cold fridge for 4-6 weeks

At salting was 1256g.  Much softer feel than the previous batch, but better than the batch before that, which turned to liquid.  Fingers crossed will hold shape.
« Last Edit: April 22, 2013, 07:14:12 PM by JeffHamm »

KTownCheese

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #1 on: April 21, 2013, 02:23:49 AM »
The photos look good.  I hope it finishes well for you! :)

JeffHamm

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #2 on: April 21, 2013, 06:28:10 AM »
Fingers are crossed.  It's looking good, but has a way to go in the draining department.  Will see how it is in the morning, but it's still quite thick.

- Jeff

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #3 on: April 21, 2013, 10:47:53 AM »
I have only made several cams but would love to try a brie. Hopefully yours will settle further
Do you need a special mould? or, more importantly, if using a standard mould how do you flip it.
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

Offline Boofer

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #4 on: April 21, 2013, 02:24:40 PM »
Love the chopsticks and the sequenced pics.  :)

Watching this one, Jeff.

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mjr522

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #5 on: April 21, 2013, 04:08:05 PM »
I like you princess pajamas/shirt/vest ;).  Oh, and the cheese will be fun to watch, too.


JeffHamm

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #6 on: April 21, 2013, 06:38:52 PM »
Hi,

Thanks everyone.  I've found chopsticks to be a critical tool in making cheese, in almost every stage! :)  The moulds are called "1/2 Brie Moulds", and are fairly straight sided, but with a wee taper.  More holes than a typical Tomme mould, and  the sides are not as high.  There's no follower, hence I use one inside the other when I'm only making one so I can flip it easily.  If I'm making two, I put a layer of cross stitch mat (wide hole) down on top of a dinner plate.  Then, put that on top of the mould, and flip.  It sits on the plate until it's time to invert again.  Works quite well actually, although when the cheese is still very soft early on, it will sort of flump in the mould (yes, flump is a word in some parts of the world). It's settled down quite a bit by this morning, but not quite as much as I would like.  I might let it drain until I get home from work, then I'll salt it.

Thanks Mike.  Those jammies are hard to find in my size! :)  Actually, that's my daughter Genesta, who likes to help me make cheese.  At 5 2/3rds, she can get away with that look.  I, on the other hand, have to go with the captain hook patch or it just looks weird. ;)

- Jeff

P.S.  I decided to salt it in the morning as it can continue to drain on the mat.  I've put a mould over top, so it should continue to hold shape.  It's still heavier by about 400g compared to the last make, but I didn't stir as much this time (paused a few times) so the curds have retained quite a bit more moisture.  I figure the salting will help draw that out.  Should be good, but will require a bit of watching.
« Last Edit: April 21, 2013, 08:03:12 PM by JeffHamm »

Tomer1

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #7 on: April 21, 2013, 09:11:15 PM »
Is the 2 gallon tomme mold suitable for brie? I really like the idea of larger formats.   Its really time consuming to take care of many little cheeses.

JeffHamm

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #8 on: April 22, 2013, 12:16:09 AM »
Hi Tomer1,

The 1/2 brie moulds are about 20 cm in diameter (at least at the top; I'll measure the cheese later to see how big across it is as it comes from the bottom of the mould).  The problem, I would think, is that a Tomme mold has much smaller holes, and so may not drain as well.  Getting the curds to settle into themselves, and expless whey under their own weight, is the important for these cheeses.  While cam moulds have no holes on the sides, there are also no tops and bottoms, so they drain freely.  These brie moulds have more, and bigger, holes than a typical Tomme mould, so drainage might be an issue.  This is all theoretical concerns as I've not tried making one in my tomme mould, which is only about 15 cm in diameter (and suitable for my 10 L pressed cheese makes, so probably a 2 gallon mould).

- Jeff

JeffHamm

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #9 on: April 22, 2013, 07:16:29 PM »
I've updated the pictures to show it after it came out of the mould.  Not much more to see until the PC shows up, then full coverage, then the unwrapping, and cutting.  Hmmm, then there's the talks with the actors guild, screen writing guild, prima dona fits, deva melt downs, ... sigh ... it just never ends with these cheese shoots when you're working with fancy cheeses! :)

- Jeff

meyerandray

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #10 on: April 22, 2013, 08:59:08 PM »
Well I definitely want an autograph and a taste before it all goes to your head!

bbracken677

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #11 on: April 22, 2013, 09:19:49 PM »
Hi Tomer1,

 While cam moulds have no holes on the sides, there are also no tops and bottoms, so they drain freely.

- Jeff

The cam molds I have do have holes on the sides. They are nothing like the molds you use for brie, but rather more like a hard cheese mold except for the no bottom or top.

I have a 4 lb tome mold that I am considering using for brie....but you are right, they don't have enough holes particularly bottom and top.

Not sure how much of a difference that would make, since the whey would still be expelled by the cheeses weight and that whey would have to escape via the holes present...perhaps the use of cheese cloth would help enough?

Anyone have a take on that?

JeffHamm

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #12 on: April 22, 2013, 11:55:32 PM »
Nice.  I've tended to see cam moulds as just hoops, with no holes.  Drainage holes on the side would really help, especially in the situation where one just ladels in the curd rather than cut and stir a bit.

You know, you might be able to use the tomme mould if you cut and stirr a bit more than I did, say 20 or 25 minutes post cut stirring, as that might help to expel more whey before loading the mould.  Try a smaller make, say 4 litres, or even 3.5, as well.  I bet you can make it work.  The 5 litres I make is a bit thicker than is probably ideal, and probably closer to 4 litres would produce a more accurate form.  But, it worked well last time, so trying that again.

- Jeff

bbracken677

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #13 on: April 24, 2013, 01:07:36 PM »
I may give that a try this weekend. I had thought about doing a little whey expelling prior to molding in the tomme mold...I have a few days to decide. Worst case scenario I will make some cams and continue to ponder the brie   haha

Offline Boofer

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Re: My 3rd Brie
« Reply #14 on: April 25, 2013, 05:33:32 AM »
So will that flap get trimmed off?  ???

Looks good, Jeff.

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Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.