Author Topic: Fourth try at brie  (Read 1169 times)

douglas

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Fourth try at brie
« on: April 22, 2013, 05:56:12 AM »
Ok, Starting trying for Brie at the beginning of the year, and I've been having problems ever since.  The first two batches, I let them age in the wine cooler, on bamboo mats on the shelves, and this just didn't work out.  The cheeses, ended up drying out, even though I put bowls of water in the shelves under them.  They grew a nice moldy white rind, but ended up kinda tough and plasticy.  The taste was ok-ish, but the texture, not good.  So, then I put the cheeses into plastic containers to age, basically right after making the cheese just kept them in the container, and then went for the recommended 4-6weeks.  This time the cheeses were very moist, I would drain moisture from the containers each day as I turned the cheeses.  And they ended up with very loose rinds, and strong odors of ammonia.  Not good.  So, reading up on this, turns out you need to keep the cheese moist, but not too moist.  Constantly covered is not good, but completely open not good.  So, fourth time, I put in cheese into the wine cooler ageing "cave", at 47-55deg. open until it stops draining whey, after about 2 days.  Then put into a plastic container, but with the top only half on, and close it if no moisture on the walls of the container, but leave it open for a day if moisture pools on the bottom of the container.  Turn the cheese twice a day, and watch for the bloomy rind at about 1.5 weeks.  After 2 weeks, wrap the cheese in paper, and put it in the fridge at 36-43deg., and leave it for another week.  At three weeks I give it a try.  Ooh, boy, this one is pretty good.  I'm finally getting better at this.  I started a fifth try this weekend, I'll see how this one goes in three weeks here...

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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  • Location: Newcastle, Australia
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Re: Fourth try at brie
« Reply #1 on: April 22, 2013, 06:54:43 AM »
Congratulations, you deserve a cheese for your persistence.
-Bill
One day I will add something here...