How to save brynza cheese. Cheese at home from cow's milk

Brynza is a soft pickled cheese made from cow, goat, and most often sheep's milk.

It differs from ordinary cheese in a more delicate, but at the same time dense texture. It does not have those holes that are usually found in cheese, but there is enough salt.

Cheese is a great addition to a vegetable salad or a regular sandwich.

It is rich in calcium, sodium, phosphorus, vitamins C, B1, B2. The use of cheese improves the functioning of the digestive system.

Cheese is sold on store shelves both by weight and in containers in which it is in a special saline solution - brine. It is he who is a preservative and does not allow it to deteriorate.

But it is best to buy fresh cheese and not store it for a long time, as the taste of the product deteriorates over time. But what to do if you have bought a large piece of cheese, and consumer ability is low?

How to store cheese in brine

If you bought cheese placed in a container with brine, you should not take it out of there and transfer it to another container, because the brine is prepared in such a way that the cheese remains fresh for a long time in it.

How many? Each package should have information from the manufacturer on how to store the product and how long. These deadlines must be adhered to. And cutting off another plate from the cheese, the rest of the piece is again put in brine and put in the refrigerator.

Cheese is stored at a temperature of 1-5°C, and it is the refrigerator that can create such conditions.

Sometimes, for some reason, the hostess pours out the brine. Then she has to make it herself, using a very easy recipe.

To do this, cold water is poured into the container and so much salt is poured in order to obtain a brine of 18-20% strength, that is, 180-200 g of salt are taken per 1 liter of water. Cheese is poured with this liquid.

Container for storage of cheese should be glass. Many store it in plastic containers, but this is not the best option, as the cheese in brine continues to ripen, and the chemicals from the plastic will pass into the liquid and into the product. Therefore, plastic containers are chosen very carefully.

Cheese can be stored in a 20% saline solution for a very long time. So that it does not sour, the brine must be changed monthly, but each time making it weaker. The final concentration of salt in the water should be 15%.

How to store cheese without brine

Cheese by weight is sold without brine, and therefore the hostess has to take care of the safety of this product herself.

If there is a lot of cheese and it is unrealistic to eat it in 3-4 days, then it is advisable to place the cheese in a brine prepared in the manner described above.

But if there is not enough cheese, then it can be stored in the refrigerator without brine, but no more than five days.

To do this, it is packed in foil and placed in an enamel saucepan, closed with a lid.

Some housewives wrap the cheese in cling film. But in this form, it quickly suffocates and becomes slippery. Yes, and the taste is much worse.

Bryndza is also stored in the freezer, pre-packed in a plastic bag or cling film.

Frozen cheese keeps for a long time. When defrosted, it is inferior in taste to fresh, but it can still be eaten.

• Cheese should be bought in the amount that can be eaten within 3-4 days.
• The best way to store cheese is in a salt solution.

Note to the owner

• High-quality white or milky cheese.
• It should not crumble and stick to the knife.
• On the cut, it should have a uniform consistency, be dense, and not loose.
• The edges of the cheese should not be dried.
• Before use, very salty cheese is cut into slices and immersed in warm water for several minutes to get rid of excess salt.
• It is impossible to store cheese in water without salt or in a slightly salty solution, as it softens in such a liquid.

Brynza is one of the most popular cheeses in our country, since the mechanism for preparing such a product at home allows you to produce it even on your own, if you have constant access to fresh milk. Ready-made cheese is good for your own use, and for treating friends and acquaintances, and even for sale.

The only downside is that you can’t just store Brynza in the refrigerator for a long time: at least the cheese cannot be kept fresh, and in the worst case, the product will completely become unfit for food. At the same time, knowledgeable people know how to store this fermented milk product for a very long time, and we will also try to figure out how to do this.

Long term storage technique

Of course, if you bought quite a bit of Brynza in the store, love it or have a clear idea of ​​​​how to apply it as soon as possible, then inventing something is not necessary, because the shelf life of the product in the refrigerator can reach several days. If the expected storage duration should be much longer, you will have to resort to one of four methods.

• The simplest is use brine, which is sometimes sold Bryndza. This liquid is used in the process of making cheese, but due to its high salinity, it is able to store the product for a long time. If the brine in which the Brynza was prepared is used, then you can not be afraid that the product will acquire some new flavor, because the taste in this case is identical. Some producers sell Brynza directly with this brine, and if it is, it should not be poured out in any case - we will store the fermented milk product in it. In combination with constant refrigeration, the quality of the cheese will remain high for several weeks.

By the way, the brine itself can be used as an unusual drink or an additive to various dishes.

• If there is no "factory" brine, and the shelf life of the product needs to be stretched from several days to two weeks, you can store Cheese in the same refrigerator, but packaged very carefully. For such purposes, the cheese head is usually wrapped in food foil and placed in a saucepan, which is necessarily covered with a lid on top. For storage, you should choose a strictly enameled pan, while unprotected metal or any other utensil materials will not work.

• If the brine was not sold complete with a head, but you want to keep Bryndza for many months, you have to make your own brine, especially since there is nothing complicated in this task. The exact proportion, interestingly, differs in different sources, apparently, it depends on the taste preferences of the authors, but for the first time you should not feel sorry for the salt: you need to put at least a glass on a three-liter jar. The brine should turn out to be concentrated, because most of the volume of the dishes will still be occupied by cheese, and not by liquid.

In concentrated brine, the head can be stored even for six months, but for this the liquid will have to be changed monthly. You need to understand that in the process of settling, Brynza takes part of the salt from the brine for himself, therefore, each subsequent time, the salinity of the brine is somewhat reduced. For the same reason, it is not worth keeping Cheese in brine for too long, since the concentration of salt in the cheese may eventually turn out to be excessive.

By the way, only glassware with a tight-fitting lid is suitable for soaking in brine.

There is a lot of controversy on the Internet about whether Cheese can be frozen, and the answer really depends on how you plan to use it after defrosting. The fact is that because of the cold, the cheese loses its structure, and as a result, an attempt to cut it will end up crumbling it into small pieces. Many also argue that after freezing, Brynza partially loses its original taste.

However, if you need the product not for sandwiches and not for a cheese plate, but, for example, in a salad or any hot dish, then this will not be a particular problem. At the same time, Brynza is stored in the freezer not unpacked, but tightly wrapped in cling film or a plastic bag, otherwise the head may deform completely, and then it will have to be scraped off the walls.

Common Mistakes

As is often the case, even a slight deviation from a proven recipe can result in a sudden failure of the design. And complete ignorance of the recipe all the more often leads to the fact that the result is unsuccessful. Cheeses usually do not buy much, and therefore long-term storage is often required if a person suddenly leaves somewhere.

Let's take a closer look at how Brynza should not be stored.

• Many people, fearing to oversalt the product, store cheese not in brine, but in ordinary boiled water. There is no logic in this: not only will plain water not protect against microorganisms, but also the salts will be washed out of the head, due to which it will become tasteless. It is worth soaking Brynza in plain water only if it turned out to be excessively salty and needs to be “restored”, but this technique has nothing to do with long-term storage.
• Consumers in recommendation about wrapping Brynza in cling film and putting it in a pan with a lid is often limited to only the first step, although in fact the second is much more important: it’s better with a lid and without a film than with a film, but without a lid. The fact is that the lid allows the cheese head to retain its moisture for as long as possible, and without it, the product will simply dry out and become stale. A spoiled product can theoretically be saved by cutting off the hardened crust, but this already promises a loss in volume, and in the worst case, especially if a piece of cheese was a small, complete loss of product.
• Plastic containers, as well as metal ones without an enameled surface, unsuitable for storage of Brynza by any of the methods described. True, the situation with plastic is somewhat simpler: cheese can be stored even in such a container, but it is better to limit the period of stay there as much as possible, otherwise a characteristic unpleasant aftertaste will appear.

For information on how to store cheese in brine, see the video below.

Brynza is a soft pickled cheese, most often sheep's, and has a more delicate texture compared to ordinary cheeses. The main problem with its storage is how to preserve its high moisture content. After all, the more the cheese dries out, the more its taste deteriorates.

Bryndza storage at home

Cheese is sold in stores either in sealed packaging or by weight. In the latter case, it is immersed in a special brine, which acts as a preservative, preventing it from spoiling. The storage conditions of cheese are often written on the packaging. However, regardless of them, you need:

• temperature not exceeding 6-8 o C and. as a result, the refrigerator;
• sealed packaging, usually a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid. But in extreme cases, plastic film or foil is suitable. You can also give preference to an enameled or metal container, and cover it with cling film on top;
• no contact with products that have a pronounced odor.

• Cheese sold in brine is stored for up to 60 days. Of course, if you don’t get it out of there and transfer it to another container, and after cutting off the desired plate, put it back into the brine and into the refrigerator. If the brine is not enough, you can make it yourself. To do this, give it 18-20% strength, dissolving 180-200 g of salt in 1 liter of cold boiled water, and then pour cheese over it. By the way, there is an interesting way to check the quality of the brine: a thoroughly washed chicken egg is immersed in it. It should float to the surface, and its diameter that appears above the brine should be approximately the same as that of a coin of 10 rubles. If this effect is not achieved, it makes sense to add more salt. It should be noted that the most suitable material for storing cheese in brine is not plastic, but glass. After all, it ripens in brine and is therefore vulnerable to plastic chemicals that can pass to it through the brine. The quality of plastic containers should be approached very carefully;
• Cheese sold without brine can be placed in a brine made by yourself. So it can be stored up to 30 days. If there is no need for long-term storage, the usual wrapping in foil or film or an airtight container is sufficient. The cheese will keep well for 3-4 days. If this period is exceeded, cheese may suffocate, become slippery, and its taste will deteriorate significantly.

A good housewife immediately notices the proper quality of feta cheese: such cheese has a white or milky color, crumbles beautifully without sticking to the knife, and has one consistency on the cut, it is dense, but not loose.

At the same time, from which milk the cheese is made - sometimes it is made not from sheep, but from cow - does not affect the rules for its storage, because, despite the different chemical composition, ready-made cheeses are similar in their physical properties. Small nuances are only in the storage of cheese made at home. Here, the cooking technology will affect the shelf life. And if the cheese is sufficiently saturated with salt, its storage in a special solution can be extended up to six months. It is only important not to let it sour, but to do this, change the saline solution every month, each time weakening the salt concentration and gradually bringing it up to 15%. But no less: a slightly salty solution leads to softening of the cheese.

If the cheese is too salty, then before eating it, it is recommended to pour boiling water over it or, alternatively, immerse it in boiled water or milk for several hours. Drying cheese is better to put in the freezer. This will change its taste, but it will still be edible.

Brynza is a fermented milk product from Eastern Arabia. The history of the emergence of cheese is very interesting. The merchant, who was setting off on a long journey, poured milk in reserve into a sheepskin he had taken with him. After a while, he decided to stop and have a bite to eat. Opening the waterskin, he saw only a cloudy liquid and a piece of white mass at the bottom. When he tried it, he was amazed, the taste was excellent. The article will tell you how to cook cheese and save it.

Brynza is prepared in several ways. With natural fermentation of milk, for example with sour cream. Or using ready-made starter enzyme. You can buy it in specialized stores or order it online.

Sourdough is also a natural bacterial component that helps to quickly ferment the milk component of feta cheese or cheese. There are several varieties of starter cultures: with preliminary activation in milk, with its subsequent addition to the milk mixture for the preparation of cheese directly. And direct introduction: such a starter is added directly to the milk mixture when preparing feta cheese or cheese. The amount of sourdough needed to make feta cheese is small. Therefore, one sachet or enough for a fairly long time. There is a sourdough in a dry form (granules, powder), there is a liquid.

Brine for cheese

After preparing the cheese, you can immediately cut it and enjoy a wonderful dairy product, or you can stand it for some time in salty brine. It is also used for long-term storage of the resulting product. For example, with a high concentration of salt in brine, cheese can be stored for several years. Salt has high preservative properties.

In the case of short exposure to brine, whey formed after cheese preparation can be used for its preparation. You can add salt directly to the warm liquid, mix thoroughly and place the cheese in the solution. If long-term storage is expected, then the brine should be prepared on the basis of boiled plain water.

The proportions for each cheese are different. Someone likes saltier, someone sweeter cheese. For long-term storage in brine, the salt concentration is high enough.

Bryndza mold

The form in which cheese or cheese is prepared is very important. Historically, we are used to seeing some cheeses only as round ones, while others can be in the form of bars. On sale there are both plastic molds for cheese, and more durable ones - metal ones. Shapes can be round, rectangular, oval, and even heart-shaped. They differ accordingly and in volume.

Step-by-step description of cooking cheese at home

This recipe is quite simple, does not require the purchase of expensive components and time-consuming.

To make the freshest homemade cheese you will need:

• two liters of regular milk of medium fat content;
• one can of sour cream with a volume of 400-500 ml and a fat content of 15-20%;
• 5-6 chicken eggs;
• one tablespoon of salt.

Step by step preparation:

• Pour the milk into a container with a non-stick coating.
• Put on fire to boil.
• Meanwhile, beat eggs and sour cream in a separate bowl.
• Gradually bring the milk to a boil. The approximate temperature is 80-85 degrees.
• At this time, gradually pour the egg-sour cream mixture into the milk, stirring constantly.
• Continue to cook the mixture for about ten minutes, not forgetting to stir it.
• Soon flakes will begin to form and whey will separate.
• At this time, it is necessary to drain the resulting mass into a pre-prepared form or a colander with several layers of clean gauze.
• Put a press weighing 1-2 kg on the cheese.
• Leave to compress for several hours.
• You can eat ready-made cheese, or you can leave it in brine overnight to ripen.

How to make cheese with pepsin

Pepsin is nothing more than a leaven, which was discussed at the very beginning of the article. What is the use of pepsin in cheese making? The enzyme allows you to bring milk to the stage of so-called souring very quickly.

This is true, for example, for goat's milk, which, in the process of fermentation, acquires not very pleasant flavor notes. And in general, it is much easier than waiting a day and catching the moment when the milk is ready for cheese production. Pepsin is added in the amount according to the instructions to the milk preheated to the required temperature. Then spices and salt are added, the milk acquires the right consistency for the preparation of various types of cheese within a few minutes.

Cheese storage

Freshly prepared cheese can be stored for 3-4 days in the refrigerator. If the cheese is saltier, then the shelf life increases to 5-7 days. For long-term preservation of cheese, you can fill it with brine. Cheeses are stored in this way, for example, in Greece, Romania, Moldova. Small bars of cheese are placed in a glass container (jar) close enough to each other and filled with concentrated saline. Sometimes there is cheese drenched in olive oil. The shelf life of cheese in this form reaches several years, provided that it is kept in the refrigerator.

When buying any type of pickled cheese, start by looking at the appearance. Consider, using the example of cheese, how to choose and store it correctly. The method for determining the quality of other types of pickled cheeses is very similar.

High-quality cheese is brittle and soft, but not crumbly and not sticky. If it sticks to the knife, then you should already doubt it. The color of high-quality cheese is snow-white. Small eyes are allowed. Loss of shape, stains, significant cracks, friability, strong softening, dried crust - these are all negative signs that indicate poor quality of the product.

Brynza is just one of the varieties of pickled cheeses. For example, suluguni is a food product in many respects similar to feta cheese, but differing in a more complex manufacturing technology. There are other types: feta (from sheep's milk), chechil (fibrous structure), vats, Adyghe cheese, mozzarella and others.

Suluguni is made in a variety of forms: braided or in the form of thin threads. May have a slight creamy tint. Otherwise, suluguni is chosen according to the same principle as other pickled cheeses.

A useful tip when eating cheese: excess salt, which helps cheese to keep well, can be removed by soaking it in water.

Cheese storage

Store it in brine in a glass or plastic container. In the absence of brine, it should be wrapped with a film or, even better, with foil. How long it can be preserved depends on the amount of salt both in the cheese itself and in the brine in which it is stored. With a high concentration of salt, the shelf life can reach 8 months.

The shelf life if the package is opened is about five days. To further improve the conditions, the container where the product is stored can be wrapped with a wet cloth.

Sometimes fresh cheese is additionally subjected to heat treatment. As a result, for example, smoked suluguni is obtained, which acquires not only an exquisite taste, but, in addition, the shelf life also increases - up to a year.