How to prepare a pickle for cheese?

One of the most relevant topics for housewives who are engaged in making cheese at home is creating brine for them at home.Before you prepare the cheese brine yourself, it is very important to learn all the important points of this process, get acquainted with the necessary ingredients and step-by-step instructions.

Cheese pickle is needed not only to make this product tasty and juicy, but also to keep it as long as possible. Salt brine serves as a preservative for cheese, in which it most often matures. To date, on the Internet, you can find several recipes for the creation of brine, which can be performed at home without unnecessary trouble.

Depending on how long the cheese will be in the brine, its taste and texture, and even flavor will be formed. Usually, after pulling out the product from the saline solution, it is thoroughly dried.

To make a rich pickle at home You must follow the following instructions.

1. Boil the required amount of water and then pour it into a special tank to pickle food.
2. Add the necessary ingredients to the tank, namely: 4 parts of water should be added to 1 part of salt (preferably, not iodized).
3. Stir the salt until it is completely dissolved in warm water.
4. The brine should be cooled to about 15-20 degrees. You can cool to a lower temperature, but only if it will be used to store the product.
5. Add 5% vinegar to restore the concentration of such a saline solution. It should be added in proportions of approximately 1.5 ml per liter of water.

Unsaturated brine is almost no different from saturated in the cooking process. Only proportions of salt and water. It is prepared as follows:

• the required amount of water is poured into the salt tank (not higher than 25 degrees);
• salt, vinegar and calcium chloride are added (2-3 tablespoons).

To calculate the required amount of salt for brine, remember that 5 liters of water are needed per 1 kg of iodized salt. When using such indicators, the brine will weigh 5.5-6 kg, that is, you get almost 17% brine.

After the salt is dissolved in water, its volume becomes slightly larger.

Consider another brine recipe that can be used even when salting cheese for the winter.

As ingredients it is necessary to use:

• a glass of salt;
• 0.5 cup of sugar;
• 1.5 liters of purified water.

Step-by-step instruction:

• pour water into a container, add salt and sugar in the required quantity;
• stir the salt and sugar and put the container on the fire, bring the solution to a boil;
• after the brine has cooled completely, they can pour the cheese.

After these procedures, you can remove the cheese to ripen.

Many experts believe that weak salt brines can draw moisture from the cheese, which can adversely affect the product in the future. Consider the following points.

• If the pickle is lightly salted, then the cheese in it can turn out to be too soft.
• After a very light salt brine, the cheese may become a bit slippery and slimy.
• When reducing the added salt in the solution, you should remember that the product may become acidic, and microorganisms harmful to humans may begin to form in it. In addition, mold may appear on this product.

High-quality preservation of cheese in brine also depends on its saturation.The use of salt solutions with a saturation of more than 25% increases the risk that the moisture from the surface of the cheese itself will evaporate too quickly, which means that the cheese will dehydrate, as the salt will not penetrate into it. Although this does not mean that such salt brines can not be used, because for many varieties of homemade cheeses they are required. In addition, this kind of solutions (23-26%) are stored much longer, and easier to prepare.

One of the easiest methods to test a 20% brine is to place ordinary chicken eggs in it. In this composition, they immediately float.

When properly prepared brine cheese, immersed in it, should be afloat. That is, in order for the cheese to ripen well and be preserved, the cheese head itself must look out. If there is a fear that the head will dry out, then you just need to add a pinch of salt to it.

If the cheese turned out salted, then it can be poured boiling water just before use. Also, excessive salinity can be removed by dipping the product into hot water or milk 1.5-2 hours before serving. For a more creamy and delicate cheese flavor, experts recommend dropping the product into milk for 2-3 days.

For information on how to make a pickle for pickling hard cheese, see the following video.