Author Topic: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods  (Read 11301 times)

Bowl

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Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« on: September 14, 2010, 08:07:08 PM »
Hi,

    Can someone please explain to me what B linens are, I have no idea  ???.

thanks.

mtncheesemaker

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Re: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« Reply #1 on: September 14, 2010, 09:13:03 PM »
Brevibacterium linens is a strain of corynebacteria that is used to develop the red rind found on certain washed-rind cheeses. It also develops the associated flavor and aroma.
It can be added to the milk with the starter culture, or used in the washing brine.
(Paraphrased from Margaret Morris.)

mcfly

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Re: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« Reply #2 on: September 14, 2010, 09:23:57 PM »
Straight for wikipedia...

Brevibacterium linens is ubiquitously present on the human skin, where it causes foot odor.   :o

The same bacterium is also employed to ferment several cheeses such as Limburger, Port-du-Salut and Năsal.

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« Reply #3 on: September 18, 2010, 06:06:52 PM »
It's what the redish/orange stuff on the outside of some washed rind cheeses like Muenster, Port Saulte and other cheeses that gives it - it's unique flavor. The B. Linens will actually impart flavor from the outside to the inside of the cheese. A bit tricky at first to use but we all have developed our own "best method" of using it. Most recipes will have you add it with the starter culture, I spray in on after the make with a tiny spray bottle and dab in dry with towels. I is rather pricey for a tiny it of the stuff.

dttorun

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Re: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« Reply #4 on: October 19, 2010, 01:47:32 AM »
I made a soft cheese with MA 4001 and added b.linen. I used brie steps without p.candidum. I am planning to ripen it in 7 to 10 days and age it in the fridge.
My question is what is the best condition to develop maximum red surface in such a short time.
Thanks for any response.
Tan

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2010, 03:03:33 AM »
I get the best result in a slightly opened container so there is some air circulation but high humidity. If you get any moiture build up on the container wipe it away so it doesn't drip on your cheese.

MrsMarbles

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Re: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« Reply #6 on: October 22, 2010, 11:32:15 PM »
Tan, I hope your cheese comes out, because I just did something similar. 

Last weekend I made two batches, one using soft goat cheese steps and one using Camembert steps.  Both leaving out the p. candidum and adding some b linens.  These are just two white mold ripened cheese recipes that have worked for me.  Now I'm flipping daily and waiting to see what grows.  What temp are you keeping them at?  I had my cave at 50 deg., but I noticed  that most of the washed curd recipes specify 60 degrees.  Hmmm.  Also, how often are you washing the rind?  I haven't started washing mine yet, but spraying like Debi does sounds like it would be easier.

Also, I have a store-bought port du salut.  I have b linens culture, but would it be worth adding a bit of the commercial rind to my brine?  Would it add other beneficial bacteria that might help my cheeses, or just add a bunch of unknowns that might contaminate my cave?

MrsMarbles

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Re: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« Reply #7 on: November 04, 2010, 05:34:56 AM »
Just a quick update:  I left the cave at 52 degrees, and have been spraying and wiping every two days.  Both batches of cheese are now covered in beige-ish mold and have an extremely pungent but not unpleasant aroma.  I guess I expected the b. linens to be red or a brighter orange.  At first I thought the beige was just Geo, except that it's growing differently than Geo, plus my Camemberts never smelled like THIS before.  Anyway, the cheeses seem to be progressing, so hopefully they'll at least be edible.  It's a start. :)

suziedd

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Re: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« Reply #8 on: June 01, 2011, 08:38:42 AM »
Hello.I have acquired some B.linens. How do I use it? I note somone sprays it on the cheese and washing the cheese has been suggested to me.How and with what is the BL diluted? With thanks.

iratherfly

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Re: Brevibacterium linens - Uses & Application Methods
« Reply #9 on: June 01, 2011, 10:24:09 PM »
suziedd - I see that you are new to the forum and I highly recommend you introduce yourself in introductions. This way you will let others welcome you and everyone can get a sense of who you are, where in the world are you and what cheese are you interested in.

For your question - what cheese are you trying to do?  There are several methods of applying B.Linen an they vary according to the type of cheese you want to make. You can use them with a cheese like Camembert to make some slight flavor, aroma and rind improvements, ot you can use them in cheese like Morbier, Port Salut, Epoisses, Muenster, Limburger etc. to give the rind its orange color while giving the cheese interesting flavors and great aroma - if it's the right kind of cheese for it.  B. Linen comes in different varieties that can produce different shades or cream, yellow, orange or red. It usually works best when combined with either cheese yeast and / or geotrichum candidum (often referred to on this forum as "geo"). That is because they help de-acidify the rind and prepare the surface for ideal growth of B.Linen.

To get the orange color and washed rind, the standard practice is to make a light brine of 3% salt and the rest water (brine should be made in a sanitized bottle and use clean filtered water. Kosher salt without additives works best).  You add to it a pinch of the B.Linen (1/32 of a teaspoon is enough for 4oz or 100ml water).  You let it sit in room temperature for the first 12 hours. You can then spray the cheese with it and rub it with a sponge.  You don't have to spray and can just do this with the sponge, however you need to pour the wash into some other dish where you can dip the sponge because it cannot dip in the main bottle for cross contamination issues.  Once done, store in refrigerator.

Typically you would begin washing cheese when it is about a week old. You would repeat the washing every 2 days in the first week of washing, then go down to once every 3-4 days in the second week, then 1-2 times in the third week and then stop and let it grow.  The orange colors would begin appearing somewhere close to the end of the 2nd week in most cases. It's very gradual and not noticeable at first if you have never seen it before. It will continue to intensify after you stopped the washing treatment altogether.

This is a very typical and general description but it's very different from cheese to cheese. You will have to be more specific...