I did a lot of research on brine last night. None of my books say you can make brine from whey. But there were several things on the internet where people make their brine from whey, which makes sense to me but I had not heard of it before.
I found people who save their brine from cheese to cheese and then they have to try and make the ph level match whatever cheese they are making that day. They said that they add vinegar, lemon juice, or citric acid to the whey to adjust the ph level.
Then I found where people said that they add chlorine bleach to their brine so that it doesn’t spoil.
I’m thinking that salt is cheaper than milk, especially raw milk. So I am going to make the brine from the whey that I make the cheese from so that the ph level will match. Then I am going to enough of it to wash the brine with. Next time I make cheese I will make a new brine.
I also found a site that told you what the gravity reading should be on the hydrometer for various strength brines.
http://www.thebeveragepeople.com/pdf/webcheesepdf/Brining Instructions.pdf
So it’s Saturday morning and I get to MAKE CHEESE today!
