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You are here: Home / Video Tutorial / Brine for Cheese Making

Brine for Cheese Making

27/05/2016 By Gavin Webber 23 Comments

Salt is an essential ingredient in cheese.  It expels whey, slows the conversion of lactose to lactic acid and preserves the cheese.  It also adds flavour and helps form a rind.  The oft quoted “Cheese is milk’s leap towards immortality” would not be so, if it was not for salt.  Brine for cheese making is an essential ingredient in many cheese recipes.

There are two ways to add salt to the curds before maturing a cheese.  One method is to add salt directly to the curds during milling, and the other method is to soak the pressed cheese in a brine solution.  Cheese like Parmesan, Romano, Feta and Edam are soaked in brine so that the salt is absorbed and it preserves the cheese.  Others like to brine Caerphilly or Camembert.

So how do you go about making brine for cheese?  Well it is pretty simple.

Here are the ingredients;

Brine for Cheese Making

  • 1 Raw Egg (for testing density)
  • 2 Litres (2 qt) water
  • 450 gm (1 lbs) non-iodised Salt
  • 2 Tablespoons White Vinegar
  • 1 Teaspoon Calcium Chloride solution

This makes an 18% brine solution, which you will know is ready when the raw egg floats in it.

Warm the water to about 25°C (77°F) so that it absorbs the salt more readily.  When all the salt is added, stir until it is all dissolved.  Check for saturation by floating a whole raw egg in the brine and it should float.  If it doesn’t, then add a tablespoon of salt until it does float.  Here is a video tutorial that I created so you can see it in action;


I find that this is just enough salt, and the vinegar and calcium chloride stops the cheese from leaching calcium back into the brine.  I then reuse the brine as a washing solution on other hard cheeses to help inhibit mould growth.

Parmesan waiting for the brine to cool.

Just make sure that you cool to room temperature before adding finished cheese.  In fact it is best if both brine and cheese are at the same temperature.  13°C (55°F) is the best temperature at which to brine your cheeses.  I just place the container in the cheese fridge for the duration of brining.

How long do you leave it in the brine?  Well it depends on the density of the cheese.  A nice hard cheese like Parmesan needs at least 24 hours, however a 1.2 kg Gouda only needs 12 hours.  Ricki Carol’s cheesemaking.com site recommends the following:

“Cheeses of different densities and shapes will require varying times in the brine. A general rule is 1 hour per lb (450 gm). per each 1 inch (2.5cm) thickness of cheese. A very dense low moisture cheese such as Parma will need more time than a moist open texture cheese.”

If you like you can store the brine for future use in the cheese fridge and you can reuse it over and over again until it gets too cloudy.  Just before you brine another cheese, add another tablespoon of salt to replace that which was absorbed by the last cheese.

I hope this answers the well asked question of how to make brine for cheese making.

If you have a cheese question, I am more than happy to see if I can answer it.

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Related

Filed Under: Recipes, Video Tutorial Tagged With: Brine

← How to Make Edam Making Havarti Cheese →

About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber is passionate about home cheese making. He loves to make cheese in his spare time and shares the techniques, videos, podcasts, and recipes with his fellow curd nerds!

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. Sándor says

    19/06/2022 at 19:08

    Hi Gavin, I am trying to find a cheap substitute for feta cheese, as white cream cheese (cottage cheese type) is easy to find here, I was wondering if I could turn it into mock feta by keeping it in brine for some time. Thx in advance 4 yr.advice

    Reply
  2. ana says

    29/01/2021 at 09:11

    Hi Gavin, thank you for the post.
    If I’m using anhydrous calcium chloride, how much should I use to make the solution?
    Thank you in advance.

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      07/04/2021 at 11:30

      Hi Ana, it is 30% solution with distilled water. So 30g CaCl2 and 70g H2O

      Reply
  3. Tony Tharp says

    22/12/2020 at 23:52

    Where can i find the piece that goes on top of the cheese that keeps is submerged?

    Reply
  4. Brena says

    24/11/2020 at 02:00

    Where did you get your brining bucket? Ive searched all over the web and cannot find one. Or even the individual parts to make one like that.

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      26/11/2020 at 15:52

      It was a combination of 2 decor containers that I had laying around

      Reply
  5. Frank Nicholas says

    22/11/2020 at 06:30

    Hi Gavin
    Thank you very much for all your wonderful resources. Can you please give a practical example of calculating the length of time for brining from the guideline of one hour per pound per inch thickness?
    With thanks
    Frank

    Reply
  6. Rabah says

    18/01/2020 at 05:44

    How to avoid mold on this kind of cheese

    Reply
  7. Tom nolan says

    23/11/2019 at 05:13

    Can I brine a soft cheese such as chevre?

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      29/11/2019 at 06:42

      Yes; here is the recipe; https://youtu.be/wULlMihNXIE

      Reply
  8. Neil van Herk says

    02/12/2018 at 14:45

    HI Gavin,
    Loving your website and resources.
    I bought some bacteria and a hoop last week and have been making curd all weekend. Halloumi, whey ricotta and a Bel Paese. A couple of questions: 1. My halloumi floated in about 10 minutes, rather than the 45mins as per the instructions. I continued to cook for the 45mins. Cheese is quite dense and maybe on the dry side, but cooks up very nice. Is the early floating a sign of something? and what determines the moistness/ dryness of the final cheese? 2. How much of a difference does the size of cutting the curd make? For the Bel Paese, the recipe says 0.9cm cuts but the video has you using a whisk to get smaller pieces.
    Thanks
    Neil

    Reply
  9. William D Hutchison says

    17/05/2018 at 06:55

    Hi Mr Webber. Great videos. Lived 3 years in Canberra for my PhD a had a great time down under. Just made the Cheshire style with a 35-40 deg curd stirring temp. Cheese very firm out of press but trimmings tasted rubbery and tough. Will it mellow and get crumbly after 6months? I used kefir to ripen the milk since I didn’t have mesophilic culture then rennet tablets.

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      22/05/2018 at 17:12

      It should do. The trimmings usually taste like that.

      Reply
  10. Ted Giles says

    21/02/2018 at 20:37

    This is driving me nuts!
    I scrupulously clean and sterilise my equipment but the last 3 cheeses all get tiny spots of green mould which grow. I take them off and wipe with salt water and vinegar but they come back!
    After pressing I keep them at room temp in an open basket to build a rind, so now I am trying a brine to keep the mould at bay when I put them in a sealed box.
    The mould starts about a week after pressing.
    Where am I going wrong? I believe I follow the instructions in the hard cheese kit I got for Christmas.

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      25/02/2018 at 14:07

      Hi Ted. Yes, the mould keeps coming back. That is why we need to check and wipe it each week whilst maturing if you are trying to develop a natural rind.

      Reply
  11. Hillary says

    06/08/2017 at 09:08

    Hi Gavin. I brine my cheese in room temperature since i have a very small cheese fridge. Do i have to reduce the time of brining? Lets say for gouda, it needs 12 hours. Does it need less time if i brine it in room temperature.

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      06/08/2017 at 11:32

      Hi Hillary, the temperature is not usually a factor when brining unless room temperature is over 30C as more salt will be absorbed at that higher temp.

      Reply
  12. Julie Gagne says

    16/07/2017 at 04:01

    How much water and salt used in the 10% brine solution for feta? Also I’ve made a few of the cheeses from your videos and I am hooked thank you.Love to see the mysterious Kim in your videos.
    Julie Gagne. USA

    Reply
  13. John Effer says

    08/10/2016 at 22:03

    Hi Gavin
    Love your tutorial videos, they are fantastic.
    Keep up the great work.
    Kind regards John Effer

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      09/10/2016 at 10:36

      Hi John, thanks for your kind words. I will be publishing a video on how to make Leiden today, better known as Komijnekass! I used an authentic dutch recipe this time. Enjoy your cheese making, and thanks for the order the other day!

      Reply
  14. Anna says

    09/08/2015 at 08:32

    Can I re use the same brine for different cheeses? Say a blue, and later a Camembert?

    Reply
    • Gavin Webber says

      09/08/2015 at 08:42

      Yes you can Anna. Just bring your brine back to the boil and allow to cool to kill any unwanted bacteria. It is then good to go and can be reused over and over. I tend to add a couple of teaspoons of salt to the brine each time I do this to replace the salt absorbed by the last cheese.

      Reply

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