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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => Problems - Questions - Problems - Questions? => Topic started by: scasnerkay on May 26, 2013, 07:40:36 PM
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I got a new form big enough to hold a make from 4 gallons rather than my normal 2 gallons! Unfortunately I have to put the milk for a gouda make in 2 pots because the pot I thought big enough is not....
At any rate, my question is regarding brining... The form is almost 8 inches across. I imagine the cheese will turn out about 3 inches high. Is there a formula for time in the brine? Previously for my 2 # make I just did 6 hours....
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You may want to check out this link as Jeff has posted a great rule of thumb to brine your cheeses.
John
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,11122.0.html (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,11122.0.html)
Re: My first Edam
« Reply #24 on: March 12, 2013, 03:10:10 PM »
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Yes. Weigh the cheese in lbs, measure it's height in inches, and multiply the two together Brine for that many hours in a saturated brine solution. For less than saturated (around 26.5% salt), you scale by 26.5/X where X is your percentage of salt.
To calculate your salt percentage, it's weight of salt/weight of solution. So, if you add 18g of salt to 100g of water, then you have 18/118 = 15.25% solution, and 1 part salt to 5 parts water (in weight) means 1/6, or 16.67% solution.
As an aside, I find the easiest way to make a 3% solution for washing, is to just weigh out 97g of water then add enough salt to increase the weight to 100g. That will last for awhile if you just washing a cheese or two.
- Jeff
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I got a new form big enough to hold a make from 4 gallons rather than my normal 2 gallons! Unfortunately I have to put the milk for a gouda make in 2 pots because the pot I thought big enough is not....
At any rate, my question is regarding brining... The form is almost 8 inches across. I imagine the cheese will turn out about 3 inches high. Is there a formula for time in the brine? Previously for my 2 # make I just did 6 hours....
I just follow the recipe guidelines which are usually something like 3-4hours per pound of cheese.
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I just follow the recipe guidelines which are usually something like 3-4hours per pound of cheese.
But I think the limiting factor really is the thickness of the cheese - for example, a wheel of cheese that is say 8inches by 2 inches would brine (i.e. the salt would penetrate) faster than a cheese of the same weight which is more compact. General guidelines probably suppose something like a 2:1 form factor?