Brining brie and cam's

[Kiwiculture]

This is my first post.
I have made 4 brie cheese's thus far, and I brine mine in a saturated brine 27% salt water. what does every one else use to salt there soft cheeses.

[MarkShelton]

I've recently taken to rubbing dry salt on my soft ripened cheeses. I don't have to worry about brine strength or calculate brining times, and it's quicker. Plus, I have personally found that the rinds become a little harder from brining.

[mtncheesemaker]

I've never brined my cams. I always surface salt when I take them from the molds. That's what the recipes I've read said, so I never tried brining.
Pam

[halminator]

I also brine in about 26% strength for roughly 50mins (25 each side).

How do you know how much salt to rub on the surface or is this more of 'by feel'?

[MarkShelton]

A good recipe should tell you how much. My reblochon recipe called for an amount equal to 1.5 - 2.0% of the weight of cheese.

[mtncheesemaker]

For a cam, I usually sprinkle about 1/2t on each top and bottom of the cheese. I don't rub it on, I sprinkle one side, let it sit for a while, then flip and salt the other side.

[Kiwiculture]

I am brining my brie to get an even amout of salt thru it, and also i find after brining the out side of my cheese is sealed and drys much more evenly. i will post picturs soon.

[MarkShelton]

You're kinda right...
When salting (brining or dry salting) the salt will cause more whey to be expelled. When it is brined, the whey is pulled into the brine and away from the cheese. After dry salting, the whey will accumulate on the cheese surface and need to drain some more. Some of that whey may soak back into the cheese, so yes, brined cheeses will dry quicker.

However, the distribution of salt is pretty similar whether you brine or dry salt. If you were to put red food dye into the brine then cut into the cheese after brining, you would see that the red dye (and salt) only penetrates a few mm, much like dry salting. During the rest of aging, the salt distributes itself evenly throughout the cheese (in both scenarios)

With brining, though, as long as you flip regularly or find a way to keep the cheese submerged, then the surface distribution of salt will be uniform all over the cheese. This is better than worrying that there may be 3/4 tsp of dry salt on one side of the cheese and and only 1/2 tsp of salt on the other, and "how much should I set aside to salt the sides" kind of thinking.

All that said, I think you'll be fine either way. Just be careful through the rest of aging, cams and bries are finicky about the humidity, temperature, air exchange, etc. Salting method should be one of the lesser concerns.