I just made an Edam from a recipe on New Engloand Cheesemaking’s website. It called for brining for 2 days. Why would you brine a cheese for that long? Does longer brining mean thicker rinds?

I am not sure about the rind thickness, I am sure you’ll get a quite salty cheese according to the size of cheese (milk quantity) and brine concentration (should be saturated).

I’ll agree with Alex - it sounds like its going to be a really salty cheese.  Although someone must have made that cheese before putting the recipe out - unless its a misprint.  It does occur to me that I heard something a long while ago about more salt resulting in less salty taste when aged for a long time.  It sounded counter-intuitive at the time.

More brining the more salty. Rind is just the surface drying out.

So, longer brining time does NOT make a thicker rind? I am going to make another one tomorrow and brine for 2 hours insteads of 2 days and see what happens. Edam is a young cheese so I’ll let you know in a couple of months. Darn this waiting is driving me CRAZY. I’ve got about 20 cheese in the cave waiting to reach perfection - I hope.

2 hours is probably going to be a bit hasty.  My Manchego calls for 6 hours, and most require 12.

I agree. 2 hours is probably not enough. I will probably go for 8. I jokingly used 2 hours because the 2 DAYS called for in the recipe must be a mis-print.

I couldn’t stand it any more and I cut open two of my first cheeses last weekend.
The first one being my jalapeno somked gouda.
1 Too dry
2 too salty
3 too crumbly
I had a hard time regulating my temps. in my first attempts of my new hobby.

I think with the double boiler system I may do better in my further attempts.

The second one was a Colby.
I liked every thing except.
1 Too salty.
2 Needed at least one more birthday.“month”.

I have been using Ricki Carrols book.
I plan to reduce the salt in the recipes.
And I am actually a salt lover and I am complaining. So….
Hopefully I will be a little happier with my future attempts?????

Did you wax the cheeses?

I’ll agree with your assessment of the double boiler method.  It worked much better for me.  The disadvantage seems like in larger batches - over 5 gal.  Its hard (expensive) to get a couple pots big enough to accommodate such large batches.  I am currently using a 5 gal pot which fits nicely into my kitchen sink, and the sink is the hot water holder.

On the saltiness:  just how much salt are you using?  And what kind of salt?  I believe the Colby recipe calls for t Tbsp for a 2 gal. batch.  I use 4 Tbsp for a 4 gal. batch and it works out just right.  And I am using non-iodized canning and pickling salt.  The problem here may be insufficient aging.

Yes I wax my cheeses. and Yes I use 2 tablespoons of salt for the recipes.
At first I was using generic brand un -iodized sea salt but now I am using the pickling salt as well.

Did you try your Edam yet? I made one and brined it 2 days like the recipe said (against my gut instinct). It turned out super salty & dry like a feta. We eat it crumbled on salad, and that 2 gallon batch of cheese is lasting a lot longer than the other wheels do!  I made another Edam using Margaret Morris’ recipe, and left it in for 8 hours, per her recipe. Hopefully this one will be better.

Annie C. - 15 November 2009 03:47 AM

Did you try your Edam yet? I made one and brined it 2 days like the recipe said (against my gut instinct). It turned out super salty & dry like a feta.

That’s not Edam. True Edam, as bought in Holland is a reasonably soft, silky, mild, firm cheese. Even Gouda it’s cousin is similar but a little bit firmer and dryer.