Brining Cheese In Very Acidic Brine - Cracked!

[Iqbal]

Hello,

Newbie here.

Tried to make my first Parmesan yesterday. Used 6L of milk (equal parts of skim and full cream milk) and pressed it for 12 hours at 10Kg. However, after I left it in the brine for about 2 hours it cracked all over the place.

I read cheese might crack during air drying or caving due to lack of moisture, but this one cracked when it was under water.

What did I do wrong? Is there still any hope for this cheese or should I throw this away and start over?

Thank you for your advice.

Iqbal

[MarkShelton]

Strange... I  have never seen that before. Was the rind fully closed before you put it in the brine?

[Iqbal]

Hi Mark,

Yes the rind was fully closed and firm. It also smelt very nice actually.

I pressed it for 12 hours. Was this not long enough and possibly the reason why it cracked?

[Cheese Head]

Iqbal, good question and interesting problem, sorry but I don't make parms, how firm was the cheese after pressing hard firm or springy-soft? Also do the surface pieces feel hard from shrinking or soft from swelling in the brine?

The only surface cracking I've had is from drying too quickly or shear cracks when placing in brine, you have neither of those. Sorry can't help more.

[FRANCOIS]

Please post your brine recipe.  Most likely that is your issue.  Pressing parm for 12 hours is more than sufficient.

[Iqbal]

John, I think this cheese was firm, I don't think it was 'hard-firm' but it was not springy-soft either. A week before I made Havarti that was springy-soft; and I could tell this Parmesan was firmer than Havarti. Thanks for the sheer crack link. Actualy I have found and read this link of yours a few days prior making this Parmesan, and tried to avoid this type of crack. But I ended up with different ones!

Francois, I used the brine recipe from the book 'Home Cheesemaking' by Australian authors Neil & Carole Willman. It says brine generally consists of 20% salt and 80% water, plus 5ml white vinegar/Liter of brine. The book does not mention any particular brine mix for Parmesan. And since I have never thought brine would have any effects on rinds I casually mixed 300 grams of Sea Salt, 1.2 L of water, and 5ml of white vinegar. Is this an incorrect brine mix for Parmesan?

[FRANCOIS]

Bingo, that's way too much vinegar.  You are trying to reach a pH in the brine by adding the vinegar, so it's not a fixed volume.  You're better off cutrting your brine with some whey for a pH drop anyway.  I would guess the sudden pH shock could easily cause those cracks.  Do you have a way to check pH?  It shouldn't be less than say 5.3, but up around 5.5-5.6 is ideal.

[Iqbal]

You are absolutely correct Francois! I used my wife's pH meter (for soil) to check the brine's pH. I know a soil pH meter would not be accurate but it did give a reading in the lower 5. Anyway I made another Parmesan yesterday and skipped the vinegar for the brine. And so far it turned out great.

Thank you Francois for troubleshooting the issue. Thanks also to John and Mark.

This forum has been helpful.