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Most recipes I have seen thus far cut the final cheese into cubes or sections prior to brining.  I do not, but rather submerse the entire brick size or 250mm round into the brine.  Are there any considerations or adjustments I should be making regarding my brine and the size of my cheese.
Thanks

George13, this is a good question. I am bumping this thread to the top again in the hopes someone will address it.

I have yet to make a feta, but it is planned for my next make.  I will be following the recipe at fiascofarms, and her recipe called for cutting the cheese into cubes, so I will follow that. But, like you, I would be interested in the differences, good or bad, in brining it as a "brick" rather than cubes.  Hopefully someone can chime in here with their experiences.

I am no expert as I have made Feta exactly twice and the first time was a major disaster that did not get eaten - but thrown out. However, I did vary my cheese size between the two attempts.

On my first attempt, I cut the cheese into 1.5 inch cubes and brined it. The brine was too salty and the cheese was actually inedible. This was true even when I cut off about half an inch from each edge and ate only the middle. I ruined the cheese by attempting to make it less salty by replacing the brine with water mixed with citric acid (to maintain acidity). The cheese fell apart.

My current attempt is in the brine in two round disks which I did NOT cut down. I used half as much salt in the brine and the cheese has been sitting in it for a week. I cut off a hunk to use in a salad earlier today. It is still too salty to be eaten plain, but crumbled in the salad, it worked well. Leaving the cheese in a disk appeared to make a difference in both the structure of the cheese as well as amount of salt that worked its way into the cheese. Even at only one week old, I could see the formation of small holes throughout the chunk that I cut off to use. It is still not as crumbly as I would like so I am leaving it in the brine for another week to try again.

My next attempt will be to use a bigger mold to get an even bigger disk of cheese and brine that. In other words, I think NOT cubing  the cheese too early is the way to do.

YMMV...

I have made feta only once, last June and we are still eating it.  I cut it into cubes of about 1.5 to two inches squared and put them into a gallon glass jar, then filled it with 18% brine.  To eat it, I cut the cubes into smaller cubes, then cover them with milk and soak for about 2-3 hours.  It is amazing how the cheese goes from burn-your-mouth salty to very pleasant in that amount of time.

It is also very crumbly, so I have to be careful when cutting into cubes for soaking in milk, if I want to use them skewered on toothpicks with black olives for appetizers.

Interesting idea. I will try it and let you all know how it worked for me.

Thanks!

I leave my fetta in a large block in the brine until I need it, then cube it. I place it in a container that is just a little larger than the cheese, so there is only a small amount of brine in the container.

If you cut it into small cubes first it will get far too salty if left in brine for a long period. I havn't tried the milk soaking myself, but I know many people that have and say it is very effective. Personally, I have never found my fetta to be too salty. (I use 12 - 15% brine)