1/2tsp. of our MM100 or 1 packet of our buttermilk culture (use about 30-40% less if using raw milk)
1/16tsp B.linens
Liquidrennet (.75 tsp or 3.75ml)
Saltand calcium chloride for making brine if you have none made up
Agood thermometer
Aknife to cut the curds, and a spoon or ladle to stir the curds
Formolding use our large mold-M2
Agood draining mat to place under the mold to drain the curds
Aweights to apply sufficient weight for consolidation of the curds
Twoply washed rind paper for wrapping the finished cheese
1/8-1/4tsp annatto for color (but this is totally optional)
Calciumchloride for pasteurized cold stored milk
Note:If you would like to make a smaller 2 lb. cheese (1/2 Brick) use 1/2 of the culture and rennet above plus a small basket mold for forming the smaller cheese. Everything needs to be clean and sanitized.
Method:-
ACIDIFYING AND HEATING THE MILK:
Begin by heating 4 gallons of milk to 88F (31C). You do this by placing the milk in a pot or sink of very warm water. If you do this in a pot on the stove, make sure you heat the milk slowly and stir it well as it heats. Once the milk is at 88F the culture and b.linens can be added. To prevent the powder from caking and sinking in clumps, sprinkle the powder over the surface of the milk and then allow about 2 minutes for the powder to re-hydrate before stirring it in. Then allow the milk to ripen for 10 min. (this is a very short time because we need a very slow acid development to produce a sweet cheese).
COAGULATION WITH RENNET:
Then add about 3/4 tsp (3.7 ml) of single strength liquid rennet. The milk now needs to sit still for 30 minutes while the culture works and the rennet coagulates the curd. You will notice the milk beginning to thicken in about 15 minutes but wait 30 minutes until you see a good curd. The thermal mass of this milk should keep it warm during this period. It is OK if the temperature drops a few degrees during this time.
CUTTING CURDS AND RELEASING THE WHEY:
Begin by cutting the curd into 3/4-1 inch squares, then allow this to rest 2-3 minutes for the cuts to heal. The curd will be very soft and this will prepare for a more even cut size.
Then, cut the curd to 3/8' to 1/2' pieces as evenly as possible. I use a large whisk with thin wires which I have expanded to a globe shape for this as shown below. Rest again about 5 minutes giving it a very gentle stir every minute or so to keep from matting. The curd remains quite soft and tends to slump back into a single mass at this point, so careful stirring is important until it firms up more. The whey should have begun to rise, so now stir gently for 10 minutes (the curd is still quite soft at this point). The curd will begin to firm up during this phase.
COOKING THE CURDS:
Now it is time to begin drying out the curds. This will be done by increasing the heat slowly from 88-100F over 45-60 minutes (the longer time for a drier curd). A slow and constant stir should keep the curds from breaking while encouraging the whey to be released. During the cooking (scald), the curds will begin to take on a firmer look/feel and will remain separate more noticeably than during the initial cut and stir.
REMOVING WHEY AND WASHING THE CURDS:
This next step is very important in slowing the acid production required for the sweet cheese body. Allow the curds to settle and remove 25% of the original milk volume (1 gal) as whey (this will deprive the bacteria of lactose and slow its acid development). Immediately, add back cool water at 65F until the curd temperature drops to 85F (this will slow the bacteria even further with the cooler curd). Then continue stirring until the curd is firm enough to mold. The final curds should be cooked well through and should be examined to make sure that enough moisture has been removed. A broken curd should be firm throughout and the curds should have a moderate resistance when pressed between the fingers.
Too much moisture and the cheese will develop late acid and a pasty texture in the aging room.
Too little moisture and the cheese will not consolidate well or ripen correctly due to lack of moisture for enzyme transport.
When this point is reached, the curds can be allowed to settle under the whey and then the whey can be removed down to the curd level again.
MOLDING AND PRESSING:
The curds can now be transferred to a sanitized mold sitting on a draining mat.
They should be allowed to drain for 15 minutes with no weight.
Then turn (#1) at 15 min.
Turn again (#2) and add 5 lbs weight (2.5 qts water) for the traditional brick mold of 5'x10' (50'sq). Our large mold-M2 is about this same size.
(Yes, I realize my form above is not a traditional Brick shape but it is what I have here and it works quite well.) Note: If making a smaller 2 lb. cheese and using the basket mold, it has a surface area of about 20'sq. so use 2 lbs of weight or about 1 qt of water as weight.
Only apply the weight for 2-3 hrs then allow the cheese to sit in molds overnight with no weight. Turn the cheese again in the mold when removing the weight.
It would be wise to place a damp cloth over this to keep the cheese from drying out. Try to keep the cheese between 70-75F during this time.
SALTING:
You will need a saturated brine prepared for salting this cheese. A simple brine formula is:
1 gallon of water to which is added 2.25 lbs of salt, 1 tbs. calcium chlorise (30% solution), and 1 tsp white vinegar. Bring the brine and cheese to 50-55F before using.
The final weight of the cheese will be about 4.5 lbs. The cheese now needs to be set in the brine for about 10 hours (about 2.25 hrs per lb. of final cheese). The cheese will float above the brine surface, so sprinkle a small amount of salt on the top surface of the cheese. Flip the cheese and re-salt the surface about half way through the brine period.
At the end of the brine bath, wipe the surface and allow the cheese surface to dry a little for several hours. The surface will darken some what during this time.
AGING:
Two types of brick cheese are made exactly the same until they get to the curing room:
In the curing room, to develop a stronger and more traditional aromatic cheese, the aged Brick is kept at 68-70F and 90-95% moisture and is washed and rubbed daily with a light brine for 7 to 10 days. By then it should have developed a good bacterial growth on the surface and should be simply turned daily for the next 7-10 days. It is then wrapped and cold stored at 42F until ready (2-3 months total ripening time).
The milder version is kept in a 55F and 90-95% humidity space for 2 days and washed daily (Widmer simply dips this cheese with no wash). This may then be dried and wrapped on the 3rd day and moved to cold storage.
Note: The light washing brine can be made up with about 1-2 tbls. salt to 1 cup of cool water. Begin with the lower dose and if other molds become a problem, increase the salt.
A good wrapping paper for this cheese can be found in our 2 ply washed rind paper which contains a layer of sulfated parchment to control the surface growth and a poly layer to control moisture loss. Joe Widmer tells me that he wraps first with parchment paper and then with foil.
VARIATIONS IN STYLE:
Much of the Brick produced today is of a more commercial nature and milder than the original Brick was intended to be.
Joe Widmer's solution to accommodate the milder flavor desired by some of today's customers, was to make the same cheese but allow it to go through two different aging programs:
The traditional cheese undergoes a warmer aging after brining. It also receives the traditional salt and water wash to encourage the bacteria growth that produces the stronger flavor and tan/red color of the surface. This creates enzymes that allows the cheese body to soften a bit more during ripening.
His milder version, after brining, is dried off in a short time, wrapped, and moved to a cooler room to develop a much milder flavor.
So, there is the same cheese production, with 2 different aging programs, yielding 2 very different cheeses. Thus, he has something to please many tastes. One of my favorite sayings is 'Same .. Same .. but Different' and I think that applies here.
Here is a note I recently received from Joe:
'At one time the surface ripened brick was the only one we made. Then in the late 1950s and early 60s other cheese makers started to make brick cheeses that were not surface ripened and people started to ask if we had this type of brick. The other cheese makers were able to make this mild cheese and call it brick, because by legal definition all they had to do is have the right fat and moisture and there was no requirement to surface ripen the product. Well, we had to also start making the mild variety to stay up with these fake brick competitors. At first the surface ripened outsold the milder version by 3 to 1. In recent years more and more people started turning back to the original product. I think this is due to people being more well traveled and adventurous with funky foods as well as the increasing interest in specialty cheeses.'
THE PROCESS:
Now lets look at the basics of making a Brick cheese:
The cheese begins as a semisoft cheese. It was at one time made with natural dairy bacteria from the herd, but today the cheese receives a lab-prepared culture that is mostly of the aromatic Mesophilic type (although several earlier processes show varying Thermophilic additions) and is ripened at a moderate temperature.
The final cheese is intended to be a relatively sweet cheese with higher moisture. This is accomplished by using:
Low culture additions
Short pre-rennet ripening times
Early whey (lactose) removal to slow acid development
The addition back of cooler water to increase the moisture in the curd body
The cheese is molded in a traditional brick form, usually 5'x10' with a very light weight of about 5 lbs (that of a single brick).
Traditionally, the natural red rind was developed from ambient yeast and bacteria encouraged by ongoing light salt brine washes. These washes also discouraged the growth of other bacteria and molds.
