Barrel Aging Feta?

[christibale]

I got my hands on an old wine barrel, and I'm interested in using it to barrel age my feta.  That goats are in full production right now so I was just going to make cheese like crazy and then hopefully fill a barrel with all the cheese I make to eat throughout the rest of the year.

Has anyone done anything like this or similar to this?

Also, I was thinking of using whey to make the brine.  Do you think this would would in such a large quantity?

[Tomer1]

I dont see what benifit you will get from this other then "conserving" the use of plastic and most importanty showing off to your guests or adveriting the cheese as barrel aged which might creat greater interest and revenue.

If your not filling the entire volume of the barrel with liquid you will need to creat a perforated follower to push the cheese bellow the liquid so surface mold\yeast wont spoil your cheese.

[Cheese Head]

Christi, I took a picture of Feta in a barrel in an old Greek Grocery Store in Vancouver, BC.

I thought it looked very authentic, except for plastic bag liner presumably to keep the brine in as old barrel?

Also, some info here in brine % salt.

[smilingcalico]

I haven't done an old barrel before. I'd suggest researching as much as you can.  If it's personal cheese (not for sale) you could probably do it with little problem.  If it's for sale, health inspector will probably nix the idea and ask you to throw out all the cheese! Whey makes a great brine.  A follower as Tomer suggested is a good idea.  You'll still want to skim the top from time to time. Will it cause illness?  Not likely with a properly salted brine.  Even listeria can't live in Feta after a short time.

[christibale]

At this point, I would be doing it for my own general coolness and the admiration I get from others.  I also have a ton of Halumi and feta brining in various parts of my house and kitchen, and it would be good to put them in one spot.  I am working mostly with brined cheeses, and I thought it might be a good way to store it.

However, where I have seen feta in a barrel, it is obviously not being refrigerated.  I was planning to keep my barrel on a back porch type thing we have that stays at an even 55 degrees year round.  Do you think that is going to be too warm to keep feta long term?  People were making these cheeses a long time ago with primitive tools you would think I wouldn't have so many questions.  I'm sure they just fished up some sea water and used it to store their feta in.

[Cheese Head]

Good question on how the ancients made brine, seawater is only around 3.5% salt, so I expect they upped the salt% my evaporating off some of the water, you should go higher than that.

Here's some info on temp of brine for brine salting cheese, I should think that brine for storing cheese would also be good at that temp, depending on brine salt %. If I remember that barrel linked above, while it was in a horizontal fridge, it wasn't very cold.

[smilingcalico]

Temp will be fine. There's a study you can find online by the CDR (Center for Dairy Research) that basically says you can store Feta up to 86°F.  I believe that there were some caveats like it being from pasteurized milk and following safe handling guidelines, but that overall Feta is an incredibly safe cheese.

[christibale]

I suppose I will give it a go then.  As said, Feta is an incredibly safe cheese, so I'll try it this year and see how it goes.

[smilingcalico]

 http://www.google.com/m/url?ei=iWa_TdiMDoKyqgOP26aWAg&q=http://www.cdr.wisc.edu/news/pdf/storage%2520temps%2520full.pdf&source=android-home&ved=0CBYQFjAA&usg=AFQjCNE6sKrFOqEsLwTRefObSj2wFA_MAA
Long link to the CDR page for info on Feta storage.

[dthelmers]

Christibale wrote: "People were making these cheeses a long time ago with primitive tools you would think I wouldn't have so many questions.  I'm sure they just fished up some sea water and used it to store their feta in."
Mark Kurlansky's book "Salt" is a good read, with a lot of historical information on brining. This was a very important part of any economy, and the process and history is fascinating.
Dave in CT

[Tomer1]

"Table" salt from evaporation pools has existed for thousand of years BC.

[nilo_669]

  Ive been storing my Buffalo Mozzarella in its own whey with 1% brine saturation , and ive read that some of manufacturing plants who dont use their left over whey are being used to clean cheese making  utensils and said that whey is a good bleaching agent like sterilizer with a ph of at least 5.2. Since Feta has a high salt content if following its original brining procedure and submerge in a Brined Whey , i think its safe . And the authentic way of storing it.
                 This is proven when i had my Buffalo Mozzarella tested at a Lab for application for a Liscence at Bureau of Food and Drugs in the Philippines , Although the Mozzarella is lightly brined but submerge in Whey ,it tested negative of all 4 Microbial Pathogens . Attached results.

[smilingcalico]

Nilo, would you happen to know where you read that about using whey for cleaning utensils? I understand the acidity part of it, but with all the other fat, protein, and what have you, I can't imagine that the practice is sanitary at all.  I certainly won't try to get it past my health inspector!