Well good day curd nerds. Today, we're making brie. Now to be more specific I'm actually making double brie. Brie is a bloomy mold ripened cheese that stems from France. It's normally made about 20 kilometres away from Paris, but this is not authentic Brie, this is Gav's special recipe, and we're gonna see how we go through the ripening process to see if we can make a Brie. Normally Brie is quite difficult to make. It's an intermediate cheese, and it really does need the addition of quite a few different cultures to get it to that bloomy rind all over. It's normally between 40 to 20 centimeters in diameter and usually about an inch to an inch and a half which is about five to seven and a half centimeters in height Now you can see I'm using some special molds here. We'll see how that goes through the process. Anyway, let's get on and make the cheese. So you can see here that I've got all of my equipment laid out. It's all been sanitized, and I've got my three cultures that I'm using for this cheese which we'll talk about in a sec. I've got my liquid vegetable rennet and my calcium chloride to help firm up the curd. So that was all sanitized by boiling in hot water. I've also got my molds, only showing two there, I actually used three and you'll see that during the process. We'll talk about molds a little bit later on. So the ingredients for this cheese - the double Brie - is eight liters or eight quarts of cow's milk at least 3.8 percent fat, 200 milliliters or 6.76 fluid ounces of pure cream with fat content of 40 to 45 percent, a quarter teaspoon of Flora Danica, sixteenth of a teaspoon of Penicillium Candidum, one 32nd of a teaspoon of Geotrichum Candidum, 1.25 mil or quarter of a teaspoon of calcium chloride in quarter of a cup of water and 1.25 mil or quarter teaspoon of liquid rennet in quarter of a cup of water, and some cheese salt. I'm using 200 IMCU rennet, which is slightly less than single strength. I'm going to turn the heat on now. I'm going to bring it up to temperature. Now I need to stir the cream in. So, the milk I'm using is unhomogenized milk and the cream that I added is pure cream and this doesn't have any gelatin. Here in Australia creams tend to have gelatin. This is pure cream, pouring style. It was about 40% fat which is good for this type of cheese. Makes a good double brie Now just a word of caution as we go through. This is the second time I've only ever made brie. I never actually filmed the first time. It didn't work out. Anyway, so we're gonna bring the milk up to 32 Celsius or 90 Fahrenheit. First of all we'll add the Flora Danica which is a quarter of a teaspoon Now they come in big granules which tend to take a little bit of a time to rehydrate, so just sprinkle those over the surface of the milk. Then we're gonna add in our two molds. First mold is Penicillium Candidum. You sprinkle that over the top of the milk. And then the Geotrichum Candidum Now the reason we're adding Geotrichum Candidum is because it prevents skin slip which you tend to get if you just use Penicillium Candidum So I'm gonna take all the utensils out now, and we're going to allow that to rehydrate. So pop the lid back on and allow that to rehydrate for five minutes. So after five minutes, we're going to give it a good stir for at least a minute just to make sure that the cultures are fully distributed throughout the milk and to reincorporate the cream because the cream has a tendency to float to the top of the milk. So we're gonna cover that up again and we're going to allow that to ripen for 30 minutes. So this is where the Flora Danica converts some of the lactose in the milk into lactic acid and prepares it for the coagulation phase. Okay pop the lid off and the first ingredient Or, actually first of all we're gonna check the temperature to make sure that it's all okay. I've just stirred the cream back in there. Whoops. Don't drop the spoon there Gav. I'm just going to take the... check the temperature again It has crept up by about a degree and a half but that'll be okay. There's no heat on at the moment. I turned the heat off when I... during the ripening phase. So I'm going to add in the calcium chloride. Because this milk's been pasteurized it needs to have calcium chloride added to help with the the curd set. So give that a good stir through for about a minute, and then we're gonna add in the rennet that's been diluted in a quarter of a cup of non-chlorinated water. Make sure that all the dilutions are with non-chlorinated water because chlorine tends to upset the curd set. So stir that for no more than a minute because after that it starts to set. So you can see there, I'm actually not particularly trying to stir in a circle. I was top to bottom stirring. I'm just stilling the milk there, just making sure it's stopped moving before I pop the lid back on and allow that to set. So just cover that up so no fluff or dust gets in and we're gonna allow that to set for 90 minutes, so one and a half hours. We want a fairly firm curd set for this cheese. Okay, so now we're gonna check for a quick clean break, just using my finger method with a clean pinky. Pop it in and if the curd splits like that, it's not sloppy or anything, then you're ready to go. So let's talk a little bit about the molds I'm going to be using today. So this one's a bit of... rain water... so for potable water. So this is just a pipe and we've cut just some saw marks in there so draining holes top and bottom. Can't remember where I got it. I didn't make it myself. But anyway, let's have a look at the measurements. So its internal diameter - I suppose that's probably the best thing to look at - is about 14 and a half so, what's that, 145 mil and what's that in inches? Just shy of... so it's at five and three-quarter inches across and the height of it is 11 and a half centimeters, so what's that? 110 millimeters and four and a half inches tall. So that's the middle sized one. This is the large one. So this is 21 and a half across, 21, so that's 215 millimeters and the height of the mold is 10 centimeters or 4 inches. And finally these are normal Camembert hoops and they are 10 centimeters across which is 4 inches and they are 9 centimeters high or three and a half inches. So they're the dimensions I used. If I had two of these baskets, I would prefer to use two of these baskets for the eight liters of milk And that would be two perfectly sized half-round Bries and that will be fine. Anyway, so they're the baskets I've used. A bit of ingenuity with this one, but these ones you can pick up they're fairly standard and, yeah, very good for making brie. So I've moved the pot over to the draining area, and I'm using a skimmer and just cutting off slices of the curd and I'll fill up them alternately. So I'm just stacking those into the molds. So you can see we don't actually cut the curds. We're just using the skimmer to do the slices and this gives the brie a better texture. It does take a long time to drain, but apparently this is how you make it traditionally. So just keep topping it up until you get to the top of the molds. Good thing was, because of the long curd set, it was very firm so none of the curds leaked out of the sides of the two molds that I was using. So you wait for it to drop a little bit, then you add some more curd in. Now this will take some time. So you just keep adding layers upon layers. Now I actually found that I had too much curd so I did add a small Camembert mold to the to the mix in a second. Now, we just wait every 30 minutes and then top it up again. You see it shrunk a little bit there, so I'm gonna ladle a few more layers on top. So we're gonna allow those to settle and shrink again. So I just set a timer for every 30 minutes to go back and top it up again. So you can see there, I've added a small one in Because I just had too much curds by the time I got to the bottom. I thought no, I'm filling these up too much, they're gonna be too high and I didn't want really, you know, high towered Bries So I added that Camembert hoop, which worked out well in the end. So after four hours of draining, or, you know, ladling and draining, what have you, we're going to place a mat and a board over the top of the mold and then we're gonna flip it over for the first time. This was a bit harrowing. I was a bit nervous when I did this because I wasn't too sure whether it had formed a rind properly you know, around the the cheese. You know, this is the the foolproof method to do it is to make sure you've got a board on top and a mat and then simply with two hands very firmly we flipped them over. This helps with draining. So we do the same thing for the other molds as well. So I've done that with the... the papa brie, and we'll do the next one with the mama brie. So I put a board on top there, just get the little one out the way and we'll flip it over. Remember this hoop here I'm using is an open-ended and that's, which is why I've got mats there on both ends. And be very careful when you peel it away. It tends to stick. And, it'll eventually go down a bit So with the little one which we're going to grab in a second. Just make sure that there's no tears or anything like that in the medium one there. Anyway, so I've got it at an angle, so it kind of drains and the small one, what I'm just using is a bamboo mat again and fold that over in half. Just pop it on top and then just flip that over nice and simple. There we go. And that'll drop down so they all dropped down a fair bit. Now we're gonna allow those to drain overnight on the first one Yes, it worked Gav. Just turn it over and go to bed. There we go So leave that overnight. I think it was about 8 to 12 hours. Okay so the next morning. I've just washed my hands with hot soapy water and I'll spray them with vinegar there. And we're just gonna have a look Oh they look pretty good. So they're well drained at the moment. They're draining quite well. So I'm gonna flip them over again Just check to make sure that the surface looks okay. Just drain off any excess whey underneath there. Good thing about all the whey - it's running clear, so you're not losing any of the proteins of the cheese or the milk fat down the drain. We're gonna flip it over again, put the sushi mat back on top, or bamboo mat, whatever you want to call it. Put the board on top and then give it another flip. We're being just as careful as the first time. Just flip that over and hope it all settles down I'm just putting a knife under the board there to put in a little bit of an angle so it drains off better. There we go, it's all down there. Got, so we'll do the Oops, got the one out the way - do the medium one next. So once again two boards on top, firm hands together, and just give it a flip and it will settle down in the mold. So what you're basically doing here is trying to form the skin of the cheese. Just press that down, if it hasn't settled down properly. So as I said trying to form the skin of the cheese so it's firm and it's not sloppy every time you turn it. That's why we're turning. It drains a lot better. Sometimes a little bit of the curds will tear away, and that's not so good. Just pat that back into place, because next time you turn it it will reincorporate back into the bulk of the cheese. So I'm gonna do the little one again. Or the baby brie. And depending on how firm... so I've just pulled it out the mold in this instance it it held its shape okay. And just flipped it over that way. Give it a bit of a jiggle and it goes all the way down. Now the smaller one obviously drains a lot quicker than what the two larger ones are. Okay we're going to allow those to settle again for another eight hours. And cover them up if you need to, if you've got flies and stuff like that. Okay, so I'm gonna flip the cheeses again. So much fun all this flipping. And you'll notice there it hasn't fallen down. Whoop! There we go. So if it looks a bit odd, then give it a bang and that will settle it down a bit. Just like that. Okay, it's a bit rough there Gav, but it's all working. Okay, so that's flipped over and it's shrinking very well. So I'm gonna salt these and we're gonna sprinkle over 2 teaspoons of cheese salt. This is non-iodized salt. So you can get flaky kosher salt, and you can use sea salt as long as the granules aren't too coarse. So sprinkle those on and then just give it a light rub over the surface. I'm only doing one surface at the moment. We're not turning it over and doing the other side just yet because the salt's gonna help drain more whey out as well. So it kind of serves two purposes here: one for preserving, and one for shrinking the cheese further. So we're just going to cover that one up, and then we're gonna do the other one. So I class this next one as a large cheese as well. There we are. Here we go. We're gonna do some flipping a second. Get that out the way so we get some space. Okay, so I'm gonna flip the mama Brie over. Here we go. And that's probably shrunk to about half its original size which is really good. So we're gonna salt this one in a second as well using the same amount of salt. Oh, don't bang too hard, the camera jiggles. Okay, so we're going to use two teaspoons again of non-iodized salt. Sprinkle that over the surface. So just give it a little bit of a rub as well just to make sure it's all over the surface of the cheese, over the top. Okay, we're gonna cover that one up again, and move that out the way. Now with the smaller ones we don't add as much salt because obviously there's not as much cheese there. So we're gonna add half a teaspoon over the top and then give it a flip and then do the bottom another half a teaspoon. So one teaspoon in total for this small cheese or baby Brie. Okay, so I'll pop it out there. So I've salted it and I'll give it a bit of a rub now. Here we go. So we need some more salt, so another half a teaspoon Very awkward when you're holding a moist cheese. And just rub that over and then rub it around the sides as well, all over. So this is the only time we salt the small ones. So if we're gonna make petit Brie, which is what these smaller ones are called, then we only salt them once. Just do top and bottom and all around the sides, all in one go. So I'm gonna allow all those cheeses now to drain for another 8 to 12 hours. In this case I think it was overnight. Just cover those up. So the next day, it's drained even further which is fantastic. That's what the salt does for us. So I'm attempting the very first time of taking this one out of the mold and flipping it over. There we go. So you notice if you can see that there, there's actually a tear in the bottom of it. It was stuck to the bottom of that mold when I flipped it over. But anyway we're gonna keep proceeding here. Not much I can do about it now. We're gonna sprinkle another 2 teaspoons of salt over the two larger wheels so I'm trying to repair that a little bit there. Anyway, so you get the salt, sprinkle it over the top again, do the other one as well. There we go. Then we'll lightly rub that into the surface with clean hands. So at anytime before you handle your cheese make sure you've washed your hands in hot soapy water and you've sprayed them with white vinegar that's with that spray bottle is up at the back there Okay, so the whey will start to run freely again because of the extra salt. Okay, so we're just going to flip over this one Or maybe the little one. Well there we go board top and bottom. That's what I forgot to do. Okay, so and then you just turn that over and that shrinks down to the bottom. They're starting to pull away from the sides now - of the molds - as well, as they expel more whey So I want to say that I can actually pull it off which is good. Fairly firm, but I'll pop that back on. I'll just err on the side of caution there. There we go. Let's not get too cocky there, Gav. Okay. Two teaspoons of salt again just all over the surface. Maybe a little bit less for this cheese. There we go. And then we'll give that a quick rub. Okay Any bits of fluff or anything that's on there. So that's all done there, which is great. And we don't need to re-salt the small one remember we did the top and bottom of that one earlier. So we're gonna allow this to drain again but you can flip the little one over. It's fine, it helps it drain. That's firmed right up, that's really nice. Okay, so we're gonna let that dry for another 8 to 12 hours, so basically this time I flipped... I did them again after I got home from work. I'm in my work clothes there. Okay, they shrunk down even further which is great. So I'm gonna flip the cheese over in the mold. Try to make me mind up, what I'm doing there. So I'm just gonna take it out of the mold and then flip it over. So, it's firmed up even more which is fantastic. And we're just going to turn that over. There we go. Pretty hard to get these cheeses back in the molds properly, especially these really wide molds, so just be careful when you do that. Last thing you want to do is put a tear in it. The little ones are so simple. They firmed up so well you just flip it over, then pop it back in the mold then give it a tap or a jiggle. It didn't quite want to go back in that time. Try that again, shall we? There we go Give it a jiggle and it'll be firm enough to... Now this one has shrunk away from the sides fairly well, so I can just pop the mold off there and just turn it over remembering that they've all been salted now and to slip them all back over just for peace of mind. Last thing you want is the sides to be a bulge out when you've taken them out too early. Anyway, so we flip those over and let them drain for *another* 8 to 12 hours Remember this is the end of the, oh I think it's the second day. Anyway allow those to drain overnight. So the next morning I think they have stopped draining which is fantastic. I'm gonna place them into the sanitize... a sanitized... ripening boxes. That one comes away really freely now. That shrunk away from the sides well. So I've got my normal wide ripening box there with a little mat in the bottom. I'm gonna pop the cheese on it. Make sure there's no bits on it I'm going to put two in. So I'm gonna put the mama Brie and the baby Brie in the same box. Long as they're not touching, and not touching the edges of the box, then the mold will develop fine. There'll be no issues whatsoever. So make sure they're not touching in the boxes. Okay, then we pop the lid on and we're just gonna put that aside for a second. Now we're gonna do the... the papa Brie. So I'm gonna use a little round board, but what I did discover is that the larger wheel had a crack so I decided to sanitize the mold again. I washed it with hot soapy water and sanitized it with white vinegar, just wiped it off and dried it, and I put the cheese back into the mold so it would firm up a little bit because I didn't want it to crack down the middle like I had the same issue with... when I made Brie the first time. Anyway so pop that back in there, and after a bit of flapping around I soon figured out that the board and the mold wouldn't fit in there anyway. We're gonna mature these for ten days at six to eight degrees Celsius, which is 43 to 46 Fahrenheit with a relative humidity of 90 to 95 percent. Now the lid won't fit on, clearly, so I had to take the board out. Make sure we turn the cheeses daily during this time because it prevents the cheese from sticking to the mat in the bottom of the drying box. So here is the mama Brie and the baby Brie. After three days of maturation you can see that the white mold is starting to develop, which is fantastic. And there they are flipped over. The bottoms aren't covered in mold, just a little bit moist. Now the larger one starting to show signs of a bloom there on the top. Remember I left it in the... in the mold because I was a bit frightened that it was gonna split in half. Anyway, that's turned over and you can see there are some cracks there. That's where it pulled away when I pulled it... flipped it for the very first time out of the mold. So there's no mold growth on the bottom anywhere - it's too moist. Now I made a mistake there. I didn't have a mat underneath. Anyway, after seven days of daily flipping you can see the white mold is fairly prominent and that's where it's flipped over there, not a full coverage yet, but pretty close. So on the larger or the papa Brie Certainly mold around the sides, but not so much on the top. So a little bit concerned at this stage. It wasn't growing fast enough. And there it is flipped over again. So this is after ten days of Of ripening and see there's a lovely mold all the way around. If you push the sides in, a little bit soft so I'm a little bit concerned that they're getting over-ripe, so what we're gonna have to do, we have to wrap them in in wrap now or they won't ripen properly. So a good mold coverage over the entire cheese for that one. Same for that one. Certainly good enough anyway. And yeah, starting to feel a bit soft around the edges. Now let's check out the big one. And a little bit soft.. it's not soft, it's actually puffy there, so just take that off the mat. Without hopefully ripping... Oh it's stuck. This is not well. See it tore away some of the mold there. It's not a good thing. You know what, we'll wrap it up. We'll see what happens and we'll go from there. So I've got my micro perforated wrap there. This is covered in... this shiny side's covered in holes. It's got lots of tiny holes that have been perforated. And there's two sheets kind of a paper, so there's like a ... It's like a baking paper, so it'll allow the cheese to breathe. So this size here. This is about 28 centimeters by 28. This is just a cut-down one and basically, we're going to put the little one into it as best we can So I've got my trusty tape gun. Start again... And this is the pain. A lot of them have a sticker on there. Anyway, that's good enough. I can write on there if necessary. So we're gonna put that just out of the way a moment. I'll get a bigger sheet This is about 42 centimeters by... by 42, so we'll put the big one on there now ever so delicately. See it's cracked away. You know what, we'll put it on there, wrap it up. You see I'm not very good at this. There we go. That's as good as that one gets I think. And then for the final one probably don't need as much it's just... but we'll see. So we'll do... So with this paper you always put the... the paper side down not the shiny side. The shiny side is on the surface. This is kinda working. There we go, that's a little better than the other ones. There we go, so that's wrapped as well. So we're gonna put these into the normal fridge now to slow down the ripening and hopefully that'll recover and then we'll get a paste - a smooth paste all the way through so they're gonna go in the fridge - the normal kitchen fridge now. So keep it in there for another two weeks maybe three. The smaller one will develop first followed by the the middle sized one and then the large one. So I think you'll agree a nice, fairly simple process. It's the aging part you've got to get right. I don't think I have the temperature of my cheese cave down low enough. I had it down the eleven degrees Celsius and probably need to go a little bit lower so it ripens a bit slower. Anyway, these are going into the fridge now, the normal kitchen fridge for another two weeks. They've been ripening now for fourteen, no about thirteen days way... which may be a little bit too much, but I was having trouble getting the white bloom over the cheeses. Anyway, enough said about that. We'll put these in the fridge as I said, and then we'll check them in two to three weeks. The small one which you've got here, I'm labeling the... this is the baby Brie, so this is the mama Brie, and then this beast here is the papa Brie. Anyways, so we could kind of say that it's the tale of Cheesylocks and the three Bries. [laughing] Anyway don't forget that you can see more of this content if you subscribe to the channel and check out the kit that we could use for this. We could use the camembert kit with an additional Geotrichum Candidum Over at littlegreenworkshops.com.au Anyway, thanks for watching curd nerds, and I'll see you next time.
I was watching these a few months ago. Weirdly relaxing, oddly endearing.
I've watched countless hours of ol' mate Gav.
Whenever he pops up on my suggestions I go back down the rabbit hole.
Watched a few today and can honestly say Gav is true blue. Will admit I’m laughing a bit at them but I’m also learning a lot. Love the raw aussieness of him. Glad I found the channel.