Bra cheese

Bra (Tenero)

Writer: Alex

Participants: Alex

Items: Milk, Flax as Linen

The Mad Millie hard cheese kit came with this recipe for Bra. Having checked against other recipes (Carroll, CheeseTV) and it seems a fairly standard.

The type of Bra cheese is named for the length of time it ages. Bra Duro is aged 6 or more months, whilst Bra Tenero is aged between 2-3months. This cheese will be a Bra Tenero. Mad Millie says that this cheese originates from Bra Cuneo a town in Italy and comments from the town itself on the cheese are "it has always been made here, we have never made other types of cheeses."

Equipment Large pot or water bath Slotted spoon Cheese thermometer Cheese press Fine muslin cheese cloth (or linen) Cheese mat large bowl

Ingredients 5Lt low fat pasteurised, unhomogenised cows milk 1Lt pasteurised, unhomogenised goats milk 1/4 packet of Thermophilic starter culture 2 tablets of rennet (vegetarian in this case) 1/4 cup of unchlorinated spring water 3ml calcium chloride 1-2Lt 25% brine solution

Method

• slowly heat milk to 33^oC (around 30mins)
• add calcium chloride
• add starter culture and stir slowly from top to bottom for 1 minute
• cover and leave to ripen for 40minutes, keeping at 33^oC
• dilute the rennet in the spring water making sure it is thoroughly dispersed
• add rennet to milk and stir for 1 minute
• leave the milk to set for 45mins (or until a clean break) at 33^oC
• cut the curd into 5mm cubes using a whisk if required
• slowly raise the temperature to 38^oC over 30minutes, stirring constantly with a whisk making sure the curds stay in 5mm cubes
• line your cheese press with the muslin
• drain as much whey as possible
• gently scoop the curd into the press using a slotted spoon to remove as much whey as possible
• cover with muslin and insert the follower
• press at 5kg for 10minutes
• remove the cheese from press and undress
• using your hands crumble the curd into small pieces in a bowl
• reline your press with the muslin and repack the curd
• cover with muslin and insert the follower
• press at 8kg for 15minutes
• remove the cheese from press and undress
• using your hands crumble the curd into small pieces in a bowl
• reline your press with the muslin and repack the curd
• cover with muslin and insert the follower
• press at 20kg for 24hours
• fill a corrosion resistant bowl with the 25% brine solution
• remove the cheese from the press and undress
• place the cheese in the brine solution for 24hours, flipping ever 6hours for even coverage
• remove from brine and pat dry with paper towel or clean muslin
• place cheese on cheese mat and keep at 10-16^oC
• turn the cheese daily for 2 weeks
• if mould forms, wipe the surface with a piece of muslin dipped in the brine solution
• turn the cheese and wipe with brine once a week until mature (2-12 months)

Specific Photos

 

Aging with a thick rind. You can see the results of crumbling the curd.

Notes

• The recipe calls for low fat milk, or to skim the cream off regular unhomogenised milk. I skimmed the milk removing 1/3 of the cream as suggested.
• This is a mixed milk recipe, but can be made with only cow’s milk or with sheep’s milk instead of goats. Goat’s milk was added to this version.
• The goat’s milk made quite a difference to the curd. Making it finer and slightly more delicate as other recipes suggest.
• Crumbling the curd between pressings was interesting. In the short time of pressing it became quite firm and was difficult to break apart. The second time even more so. The crumbling also seems to have reduced the size of the cheese compared to other cheese with the same quantity of milk. 
• I am very disappointed with myself for not getting any photos of the crumbling process.