Author Topic: "Brick" cheese woes  (Read 1422 times)

Offline smcatharine

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"Brick" cheese woes
« on: January 20, 2018, 02:05:48 PM »
HI! This is my first post. I'm a new cheesemaker. Off and on for about a year. I had setbacks trying to find milk that would coagulate which made my first efforts discouraging but now I'm on the road to filling the cheese cave. I live in a monastery of nuns and we eat a lot of cheese. It also means I have a ready-made "test market"!

I made a brick cheese last week using this recipe from Cultures for Health. It doesn't have b. linens so it isn't probably authentic Brick. https://www.culturesforhealth.com/learn/recipe/cheese-recipes/american-brick-cheese/

I brined it but then put it in maturation box with a wet paper towel into my 55F cheese cave for 2 days and washed it with brine each day. Yesterday I took it out to taste it and it had a sort of bitter taste. So, I put it on a mat in the cave itself overnight just because...well, maybe it would dry out better and then I'd taste it again? The consistency is really quite nice and the cheese looks good. It doesn't smell or anything.
I took it out this am and it tastes very bittery sort of vinegary.
I think I messed somehow and it can't be saved. YES?
The one thing that did go iffy is that after I stirred in the calcium chloride and rennet at the 88F, I forgot to turn off the burner under my double boiler and a Sister came in to ask me something. Within those few minutes my milk shot up to 98! I pulled it off the double boiler and even opened the door to try to cool it down faster. I did add the rennet and it coagulated at the proper time, etc. It took a while for the temp to go down but I just followed the recipe, stirring for the half hour, etc.
So, perhaps that is the source of my sour tasting cheese?

THANKS SO MUCH!

If you live in NJ the milk from Dairy Pure (deans foods) is pasteurized  no higher than 161F. I did find that I needed to increase the calcium chloride to 1/2t per gallon for a consistent clean cut.
« Last Edit: January 20, 2018, 02:43:10 PM by smcatharine »

RayJ

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Re: "Brick" cheese woes
« Reply #1 on: January 20, 2018, 08:48:36 PM »
Three causes of bitter that I know of 1)too much rennet which  may be the case if you used double strength rennet with the amount called for. 2) cheese aged at too cold a temperature probably not the case with your cheese. 3) cheese may go thru bitter phases as it ages and will change over time. Sounds like you haven't aged hardly at all as the recepie calls for up to 4 months of aging. The cheese may come out of it's current state as time goes on.

Offline smcatharine

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Re: "Brick" cheese woes
« Reply #2 on: January 21, 2018, 12:19:34 AM »
Thanks, RayJ! Maybe there is hope! :) I contacted Cultures for Health and asked them what is the earliest we could eat the cheese and they said anytime. But maybe the person who responded was wrong!
I used single strenth rennet from Cheesemaking Supply. I'll wait some more and see.

I see you are from BC. I've been out there twice to Squamish Valley! You live in such a beautiful place! It was awesome!

Offline Gregore

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Re: "Brick" cheese woes
« Reply #3 on: January 21, 2018, 06:14:07 AM »
You mention bitter then also vinager . They are different tastes and thus are different reason they happen.

Bitter is usually too much whey left in the cheese and after aging for a month or so it gets bitter

Sour like vinager is from too low a ph


Offline smcatharine

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Re: "Brick" cheese woes UPDATE
« Reply #4 on: January 24, 2018, 10:27:13 PM »
It's been one week since I made this brick cheese. On Saturday I cut it in half and vac packed each half and put it in the cheese cave and did my best to forget about it! We get gift boxes from Swiss Colony and I save the 2 "Brick" selections. I'm sure it's not authentic but I'm in NJ and it is better than nothing to use as a comparison.

Well, tonight I just opened one of the packages and ate a bit to taste and guess what? the slightly vinegary taste is NEARLY GONE and it almost tastes like my SC sample! Hurrah!

I resealed it and put it back in the cave for another week of maturing. Hopefully, it will be even better next week! 

I can't tell you how happy this makes me!  ;D

RayJ

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Re: "Brick" cheese woes
« Reply #5 on: January 25, 2018, 01:55:48 AM »
Glad to hear it is getting better! I talked to a guy who lives in the bush here just last week without a fridge.  He had a bunch of almost expired store milk he was going to let sit out and make cheese out of by letting it sour first. I was mentioning how any store milk I ever had go sour was really bitter (my milk from my cows never gets that way). He was saying the first week it always gets bitter but if he leaves it for two weeks it sweetens back up.