Brie Cheese: The King of French Cheeses

Brie is a soft, creamy, and flavorful cow's milk cheese known for its white mold rind. It originated in the Brie region of France and has been a beloved delicacy for both royalty and commoners for centuries. Brie's rich flavor and creamy texture make it a perfect choice for snacks

Making Brie cheese at home is not as difficult as it may seem. This recipe will provide you with step-by-step instructions on how to make your own delicious Brie cheese, which you can then enjoy with friends and family.

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Preparing (1h 40min) Before starting, we should disinfect all surfaces and dishes that may come into contact with milk. Determine whether milk is suitable for making cheese. It has to go through the bactericidal phase (cold milk from the previous day usually works). If you have a PH meter, the PH level of milk should not be outside the PH 6.55–6.75 range (which is very rare). Pasteurize milk: heat it to 65 °C and keep it at this temperature for 30 minutes. Can heat up to 70 °C and hold for 15 minutes. Quickly cool the milk, for example, in a cold bath to 35 °C (it could take 10 minutes), or heat the already pasteurized milk.

Processing (3h) Add cheese cultures Micromilk ME 0.6gr and Micromilk PC 0.2gr. Add cheese culture Micromilk GEO 0.2gr (if the original content of the package was 100gr or the net weight of the bottle - 10gr). If the content of the package is concentrated (net weight ~30gr per 1000 liters of milk), then much less needs to be added: 0.025 doses per 5 liters of milk. Formula - 1 dose (3gr) per 100 liters. Stir well after 5min. Leave on for 2 hours. Add calcium chloride 0.8gr, which must first be diluted with 50ml of clean water before adding to the milk. Add rennet 0.7gr, which must first be diluted with 50ml of clean water before adding to the milk. At the time of adding the ferment (rennet), the PH of the milk should be within 6.45-6.6. In our case, it was PH 6.46. After adding rennet, it is necessary to take the time for the milk to thicken (form a solid clot) to determine the flocculation point. For this cheese, the flocculation point is higher than for hard cheeses and is 4. This means that if the milk has thickened in 12 minutes, then you can only proceed to the next step 48 minutes after adding rennet (12x4=48min). The acceptable time for clot formation is 10-15 minutes. If it is shorter or longer, the physical properties of the cheese will change. Cut the curd with a 1.5cm gap both vertically and horizontally and leave for 10 minutes. Mix thoroughly and immediately transfer to mold for soft cheeses. For this amount of milk 16x16cm mold is quite sufficient.

Pressing and salting (12h + 10h) Leave the cheese in the mold for 2 hours to drain. Turn over and leave for another 2 hours. Turn over one more time and leave overnight. Weigh the cheese and prepare 3% salt by weight of the cheese. For example, if the cheese weighs 1000gr, then the salt amount = 30gr. Rub in the salt and leave for 8-10 hours. After salting, dry with paper towels and place in a container in the refrigerator at 12C (minimum for 4 weeks, turning the cheese every 2-3 days). Dry the sides and bottom of the container to prevent excessive moisture. Once the cheese is completely covered with white mold, wrap it in cheese paper. If you use baking paper, it will get wet and stick to the cheese, which will be difficult to remove later, so the paper must be waterproof.