Tburg Cooks Local!

May the Force Brie With You :

A step-by-step guide to brie cheese, courtesy of

Trumansburg Middle School & Master Yoda

By Elizabeth Goodwin

The best cheese begins with the best quality milk. At 8:20 AM, the magic began…the Brie

Boys (left to right: Jaden S. and Evan B.) poured Ithaca Milk into the cheese vat.

“Ready are you?...A Jedi must have the deepest commitment, the most serious mind.”

The Brie Boys turned on the burner, and monitored the milk as it heated to 90˚F. For 2 gallons of milk, this takes 15-20 minutes. It is important to heat the milk gently and slowly, to avoid solids sticking to the bottom of the pan and burning.

“Patience you must have, my young padawan.”

Once the milk has reached the desired temperature, turn off the burner completely. It is time to add the cultures – C 101, Geotrichum C7, and P. candidum. (Unfortunately, we forgot to take pictures of this step. So, this is a picture of the culture packets on the table).

“Feel the force!”

Next, to make the potion complete, add calcium chloride. Any milk that has been pasteurized and cold-stored should have CaCl added to it. It is sometimes recommended when using raw milk, as well. (We also did not take pictures of this step, so Evan is pictured here acting it out post-fact. In reality the CaCl was carefully measured out J).

Stir in additions gently and thoroughly!

“You will find only what you bring in.”

While maintaining the temperature at 90˚F, let the milk rest for 30 minutes. We were able to do this by simply putting a cover on the pot. If you notice the temperature dropping, perhaps try wrapping the pot with towels. Because brie uses a mesophilic starter, it would be better for the milk temperature to drop a bit than get too warm, so we don’t advise turning on the burner.

When the timer goes off (we hope you are using a timer), add the rennet, stirring it into the milk gently for 1 minute. Now find something to do (sanitize equipment?), because you must put the lid back on and let the milk rest for 90 minutes.

“Difficult to see. Always in motion the future is.”

As Master Yoda promised, our patience serves us…behold! A firm

curd mass! This is where the real fun begins. It is time to transfer the curd into the prepared mould(s). The mould should be sitting on a draining mat. We set up our mould + draining mat on a drying rack inside a large plastic tub, to contain the whey. (It sounds complicated, but it’s not).

Transfer the curd to the mold in thin layers, using a slotted spoon (as you can see, we did not use a slotted spoon at first – oops). It is best to take this process slow. After each addition, give the curd time to settle and drain off whey.

If all the curd does not fit when the mold(s) is full, simply wait and the curd will settle. Then add the rest. (This is also a reason to have more than one mold on hand).

For many more pictures of this process, flip to the last page.

“Mudhole? Slimy? My home this is!”

Allow the curds to settle at ambient temperature 68-74˚F (we figured room temperature on a warm, sunny day would do the trick).

Picture above taken at 1:00 pm…not bad for 4.5 hours!

To assure complete draining of the cheese, it will need to be turned regularly. Reference the recipe from cheesemaking.com for information on turning the cheese. Our process is somewhat different than what their recipe describes.

We were able to confidently slide our cheeses out of their moulds and turn them after they had been left to drain overnight.

“Do or not do. There is no try.”

Turning the cheese…

“The future of all Jedi uncertain is. Move forward cautiously we must.”