Manufacturing Outlines and Applications of Selected Cheese Varieties 283Camembert/Brie CheeseCamembert/Brie cheeses are soft - ripened
cheeses in which white surface mold
Penicillium camemberti/candidum gives
them their characteristic appearance and
fl avor. Camembert cheese has about 52%
moisture and the fat content in dry matter is
50%, whereas Brie has about 48% moisture
and the fat content in dry matter is about
54%. The process for making both cheeses is
similar, except the fat content of starting milk
is higher for Brie.
Camembert Cheese Process: Milk is
standardized to a P/F ratio of 0.86, pasteur-
ized, and tempered to 32 ° C (90 ° F) in a cheese
vat. It is then inoculated with 3% starter con-
sisting of mesophilic culture of Lactococcus
lactis/cremoris. The spores of the mold also
may be inoculated. After one hour the TA
should increase by 0.05%. At this stage,
rennet at the rate of 250 ml/1,000 kg milk is
added after dilution with 10 volumes of
water. The mix is agitated for 5 minutes to
mix the rennet and milk is allowed to set
without agitation.
When the pH drops to 6.2 to 6.3 in about
an hour, the coagulum is cut using 1.27 - cm
(1/2 - inch) knives and the curd is allowed to
settle for an hour. The whey is drained to
reach the curd level. Dipping of the curd -
whey mixture in cylindrical molds is begun.
The molds are fi lled to within 1 to 2 cm from
the top and the whey draining continues. The
soft curd compacts. The molds are turned
upside down four to six times within four to
six hours and occasionally after that. It takes
12 to 18 hours for the pH of the whey to reachGoat and buffalo milk also produce white
cheese. However, cow ’ s milk should be
treated with approximately 0.04% titanium
dioxide to simulate the white color; it is
added to milk before rennet treatment. Milk
is standardized to a P/F ratio of 0.9 by adding
more fat to cow ’ s milk, pasteurized under
standard conditions, and set at 30 ° C (86 ° F).
Starter containing Lactococcus lactis ssp.
lactis/cremoris is added at the 3% level along
with lipase preparation at the level of
3 g/1,000 kg of milk. The TA is allowed to
increase by 0.05% and then rennet is mixed
in at 120 ml/1,000 g milk. The milk sets in 45
to 60 minutes. The curd is cut with 1.27 - cm
(1/2 - inch) knives and stirred gently for 20
minutes. The curd is dipped into rectangular
molds, drained for two hours, and stored
overnight in a room maintained at 18 ° C
(64 ° F) and 85% relative humidity. The curd
should achieve pH of 4.7 in about 24 hours.
It is then cut into 10 - cm cubes and salted at
50 g salt/kg of cheese. It may be brine salted
in drums containing 8% brine and ripened at
8 ° C to 10 ° C (46 ° F to 50 ° F) for about 30
days. Feta cheese is generally stored at 2 ° C
(36 ° F). It may be sold in blocks, cubes, or
crumbled form.
Feta cheese can be made from ultrafi ltered
(UF) milk (40% solids). This process essen-
tially avoids the whey drainage step. The
UF concentrate is inoculated with 3% culture
and 250 ml of rennet/1,000 kg of concentrate.
The mixture is dispensed into 1 - liter molds
and ripened to pH of 4.8. Salt is added at
the rate of 3% (cheese basis). The cheese is
ready after ripening at 18 ° C (64 ° F) for one
week.
Table 11.6. Approximate chemical composition of some soft - ripened cheeses.
Cheese pH % Moisture % Fat % Fat in
dry matter% Protein % Salt % LactoseFeta 5.6 55.7 20.3 47.4 13.4 2.2 4.1
Camembert 5.7 52.5 23.0 50.4 18.5 2.5 0.4
Brie 5.8 48.4 27.7 53.7 20.7 2.3 0.4Adapted from Fox et al. (2000a) , Nath (1993)