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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => STANDARD METHODS - Forming Cheese => Topic started by: mgable on August 28, 2009, 10:19:13 PM
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I am making my second hard cheese a manchego. It will be done in the press at 8:30 and needs to go into the brine for 6 hours. my question is can I just take the wait off the press and leave the cheese in till about midnight then brine or do I have to brine right away And get up in the middle of the night?
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The brine will slow down the acid production from the bacteria, so you will want to put it in the brine right away. However, I have delayed brining by putting the cheese in the refrigerator inside a sealed container to reduce moisture loss and then brining even up to a day later. The cold cheese won't absorb salt as quickly, so you will want to either allow the cheese to warm up some before brining, or increase the brining duration. The cheese turned out just fine for me.
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I like hplace's answer. Putting it in the fridge would be the safest thing to do. Personally, when that happens to me, I just go to bed and leave it in the press until I get up in the morning. I have never yet had any problems or changes to the cheese from this (I'm using a screw-type press not a weight). In fact, I plan for this by trying to get my cheeses into the press around late afternoon/early evening, so that all my cheeses get pressed overnight and go into the brine first thing in the morning.
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Hi mgable- don't stress too much over the brining. You do have some latitude in that manner as far as amount of time to brine. Consider 4-6 hrs/per pound of cheese as a starting point. You should start the brining after removing from the press. Some cheese types are air dried at ~50 degrees for 24 hours prior to brining. The temperature that you brine at is typically set by the type of cheese you are making. Manchego would be at ~ 50-55 degrees.
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I always leave it in the press overnight and brine in the morning - never had a problem
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You can wait to brine/salt, but if you do, regulate two things: room temp and pH at whey draining. Your whey drain pH should be around 6.2, higher for swiss styles(6.4-6.5). Whey drain pH is critical for final cheese acidity. Also with room temp, a cooler room will slow down the consumption of lactose. Also, watch your curd size and flocculation/healing times, because with larger curd, you're trapping more lactose in there, and you could wind up with acid pockets in the cheese if the curd size is uneven. Uneven curd size can lead to acid pockets in the final cheese with discoloration or paste changes.
If your cheese is lower than 5.0 pH when you get to brining, then you will likely have cheese defects. Best range for salting/brining is 5.4-5.5.