Making your own cheese in Thailand (3 slots)
Our 'brew' has now reached a stage that we can already taste. It will still taste a bit sour because of the yogurt, but now comes the actual flavor formation. The brie mold, which we added at the beginning, will now do its job.
We now place our cheese in the refrigerator, again covered with a damp cloth and not TOO cold. 8-12 C.
We no longer have to turn the portions twice every day, but we do it every 2-3 days. We do this for 2 weeks. The mold layer will ensure that the cheese inside becomes 'smooth', the color will change slightly and the sour taste will disappear and make way for the more typical Brie taste. Now, if desired, some salt can be sprinkled over the mold layer on both the top and bottom. (I didn't)
Advice:
- touch the cheese, as little or not, with your hands.
- keep a close eye on everything. If you notice the 'beginning of pink color formation' on the white mold layer, you must stop immediately, remove the pink mold and proceed to proper storage of the cheese. If you don't do this, the cheese will rot and will no longer be edible.
Frozen
How to store?
There are different options depending on how long you want to store:
- simply store in the refrigerator wrapped in cling film. This cannot be done for long, a few days.
- vacuum seal and store in the refrigerator. Longer than in foil, but not long and not recommended because when vacuuming, you will extract moisture and possibly end up with a harder instead of a smooth Brie.
- Freezing is perfect and for a longer period, even months. You wrap the cheese, cut into portions, in cling film and freeze it. When consuming, take the cheese out of the freezer 2 days in advance and let it 'CHAMBRATE'. You don't eat cheese 'on the rocks'.
Please keep in mind that the authentic taste of 'French Brie' will never and cannot be achieved 100%. I can say the taste was better than the 'DANISH Brie'. A French friend tasted it and told me the flavor was very good and somewhere between Brie and Boursin!
yield:
You should have at least 10% of the original milk weight left, so 600 g of cheese if you use 6 l of milk. If you filter properly, there will be more in it. I had +/-15% cheese left: +850 gr.
You can also save the whey and use it for subsequent preparation. Save a good 1/2 liter of whey in a closed jar or bottle and add it to the milk for fermentation next time. Keep the whey cool.
Cost price:
- milk 6l at 50THB/l: 300THB
- rennet: 2ml at 200THB/10ml: 40THB (can be used 5 times)
- yogurt: 25THB
- brie mold: +/- 20THB (for your next preparation you no longer need to buy commercial Brie. You can use the mold from your previous preparation.)
Total:+/- 400THB/ 850gr (+/- 470THB/kg
If I compare price with retail price:
- Makro: 125gr 'DANISH brie': 155THB (+/- 800THB/kg but much less tasty than the French)
- Internet shopping 'FRENCH Brie': 2500 – 3000THB/kg!!!!
I didn't do it because of the price, but as a hobby and I am very satisfied with the result.
Good luck. And enjoy your own homemade BRIE.
Lung addie.
A big thank you Lung Addie,
Printed out your 3-part report in full to serve as a guideline for my 'first' homemade brie.
Thank you for this useful contribution. I have always been a fan of cheese, hard, soft, mold, you name it. Now I was thinking…. We have a buffalo with one calf here. Would it also be possible to make a kind of burrata or mozzarella cheese? I already have buffalo milk, but you can find a recipe on the internet. Seems like a fun project to try too.
Dear Ronnie,
thanks for the kind words.
Of course, buffalo milk will also work. You have already found a recipe, follow it and start with a small amount. So I made my first experiment with 6l. After the first experiment, which may not fully meet your expectations or wishes regarding the taste, you can simply adjust the next time. That's the intention, by the way: adapt to your own taste.
The price of yogurt can also be reduced. Heat up to two liters of milk to lukewarm/warm = approximately 45 degrees. Add a container of yogurt, stir well and then let it sit for about six to eight hours in a draft-free place.
Wrap in a sealed plastic bag to retain heat. Then you get good, sugar-free, cheap yogurt. I always use the last leftover for the next production. Yogurt with muesli for lunch every day is good for a person.
For yoghurt I use pasteurized milk from the supermarket, because experience has taught me that it produces better yoghurt than, for example, buffalo milk. Making cheese is better and cheaper with buffalo milk.
Dear Johan,
The price of yoghurt can also be reduced????
You can most likely save a fortune on the 25THB it cost me.