Cheese cheese is a very ancient product, which began to be produced many thousands of years ago in the Arab East. Cheese cheese is made from sheep or goat milk. Nutritionists consider feta cheese one of the healthiest fermented milk products.
Compared to other cheeses, feta cheese has very little fat. A large amount of calcium has a beneficial effect on the skin and helps strengthen the musculoskeletal system. The lactobacilli contained in the product are necessary for good intestinal function. Due to its delicate and porous consistency, cheese must be stored in special conditions, but first, let's figure out what you need to pay attention to when purchasing a product.
Which cheese to choose
Good quality cheese is white in color. Its structure is soft, slightly brittle, but the product does not fall apart and does not stick to the knife when slicing.
- When cutting a high-quality cheese, you can see that it has a porous structure. This is indicated by a large number of holes of different shapes. At the same time, there should not be any sticky crumbs in its composition.
- The cheese must be in a whole, not bloated package.
- Bryndza becomes too crumbly, with dry areas, when its shelf life ends. At this time, it loses most of its vitamins and microelements, and it is not worth buying such a product.
It is better if the cheese is in brine. This will allow it to be stored longer.
- A fresh product of good quality cannot have a low cost. If so, most likely it was made from low-quality raw materials.
- When buying cheese by weight, you should ask the seller to let you try it. If the product has a pronounced salty-milky taste, the product is of high quality.
- It is better to purchase cheese in small portions.
What is special about soft cheese?
Traditionally, feta cheese is made from sheep's milk, but now production also uses cow's and goat's milk. The composition includes lactic acid starter and calcium chloride.
The final stage of preparation is soaking the product in a saline solution. Brynza is a cheese with a short ripening period (from 5 to 15 days). Its salinity depends on the duration of soaking.
Compared to other cheeses, feta cheese has a more delicate consistency, which is why there are strict requirements for maintaining a high level of moisture in it.
Do you know that…
Drying of the cheese leads to damage to its taste.
Storing cheese in brine
Cheese purchased in brine should not be removed from it and moved to other conditions. The storage of cheese in brine will last longer.
Product packaging, as a rule, contains all the information about the date of manufacture, as well as time and storage conditions. The manufacturer's instructions should be followed as closely as possible and the cheese should not be consumed after its expiration date.
Every time some part is cut off from the feta cheese, the remaining cheese should be placed back into the brine. It is best to store cheese in the middle part of the refrigerator, where the temperature is optimal for storing it (+1°C -+5°C).
Brine for storing cheese
When the brine for storing cheese has somehow been lost, you can prepare it yourself, following the following recipe:
- Dissolve 180 - 200 g in cold water (1 l). salts (you will get 18 - 20% solution);
- After this, cheese is poured over it so that the piece is completely covered with liquid.
The cheese absorbs the right amount of salt and can be stored in such conditions for several months. And before use, it is soaked in cool fresh water for 2 - 3 hours.
A common mistake some people make is storing this cheese in cooled boiled water. At the same time, they try to immediately soak the cheese from excess salt and leave it in the liquid. This method of storage is incorrect!
The shelf life of cheese in fresh water will be very short. The very next day the edges will begin to melt, and soon all the cheese will become liquid and begin to deteriorate.
It is better to use a glass container for storing in brine. Some housewives keep it in a plastic container, but this is not the best option. During storage in brine, the product continues to ripen. And the chemicals present in plastic can negatively affect its taste.
Why do you need brine?
The shelf life of feta cheese increases significantly if it is kept in brine, that is, the brine in which it was ripened. According to GOST, it is one and a half months. The minimum shelf life is 2 weeks. If the cheese was sold in dry packaging, you can place it in a homemade brine. This is done like this:
- Dissolve 225 g of coarse salt in 3 liters of warm water. If desired, dry spices are added to the brine, for example: dill, pepper, caraway seeds, parsley, garlic.
- Pieces of cheese are placed in a clean glass jar and poured with the prepared mixture so that it completely covers the cheese.
- The jar is placed on the middle shelf of the refrigerator.
If there is a lot of cheese, after a month the brine for long-term storage of feta cheese should be drained and replaced with a new one of lower concentration (30 g of salt per 3 liters of water).
To remove excess salt from the cheese, soak it in cool water or milk for 5-10 minutes before serving.
Without refrigerator
It is impossible to store cheese at +18 -+24°C for a long time, like other fermented milk products. The shelf life of cheese without refrigeration is as follows:
- in sealed factory packaging – 1 day;
- in a container with brine – 2 days;
- without brine - 6 - 8 hours.
Cheese that has such a short shelf life at room temperature is immediately placed in the refrigerator or used for food.
What is feta cheese
The soft structure is white or slightly yellowish in color and has a salty taste. During the manufacturing process, the cheese mass is soaked, spices are added, and given a certain shape. The finished product has a non-crumbly, non-dense structure and is easy to cut.
The main ingredient is fresh milk. They mainly use sheep milk, but can be made from cow’s milk, or less commonly, goat’s milk. The classic product has a high fat content - more than 45%. This indicator depends on the type of milk used in production. You can prepare this aromatic delicacy at home. It is used as an independent dish and as an ingredient in salads, baked goods, and cold appetizers. It is considered a national dish in the Caucasus, Moldova, and Bulgaria.
The fermented milk product is rich in vitamins and useful elements, since the raw materials are not subjected to heat treatment during production. Manufactured in accordance with international standard.
How to store cheese in the refrigerator
Storing cheese in the refrigerator according to the instructions can continue:
- in sealed manufacturer's packaging – up to 10 days;
- in unsealed packaging – up to 5 days.
It is best to keep this product in the central part of the refrigerator.
- Cheese cheese is stored in foil in a closed enamel container for up to 2 weeks.
- Storing this product wrapped in cling film is unacceptable: it will “suffocate” and lose its taste.
- In a plastic container with a lid, the storage time of this cheese will be limited to 2 - 3 days.
- Cheese placed in a special brine in a glass container in a cold place will last for more than 14 days.
When do you need a freezer?
In cases where the shelf life of a product has expired and it is not possible to eat it completely, you can use the freezer. Pieces of cheese are tightly wrapped in cellophane or foil and then placed in a chamber. Cheese cheese cannot be frozen open or in brine.
In this form, the cheese can be stored for up to 8 months. But, it should be taken into account that it will not have its original aroma and taste after defrosting. In addition, it will lose elasticity and crumble. For these reasons, you should put cheese into the freezer only as a last resort.
Thawed brine cheese is only suitable for preparing pasta, khachapuri, pizza and other dishes.
Tips and tricks
To preserve the taste of varieties in brine for a long time, the liquid must be changed every three days.
Some housewives resort to this trick to keep hard and semi-hard cheeses fresh. The pieces are wrapped in a regular paper napkin. Moreover, they take white specimens. The cheese is placed in a plastic container with a closed lid and put in the refrigerator. When the fermented milk product is taken out, the container is wiped with a dry towel and the napkin is replaced.
Some families prefer to buy processed cheeses. They are subjected to heat treatment during preparation and are good because they can remain intact for three to four days even at room temperature. But, like all dairy products, they are best placed in the refrigerator and stored according to the expiration date indicated on the label. If the original packaging is opened, the processed product must be consumed within a couple of days.
The most important thing is not to buy a lot of dairy products. After all, supermarkets are open seven days a week and offer a huge range of cheeses for different tastes, for people with different financial capabilities.
And in almost all populated areas the lights are often turned off. This means the refrigerator is getting warmer. Temperature changes are bad for any type of cheese.
The original snack is used to create hot or cold sandwiches or to prepare hot dishes. The taste of the finished product will depend on how the cheese is preserved.
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Tips for choosing
High-quality cheese has a white or slightly yellowish tint. The presence of foreign colors indicates deterioration and technological violations in production. It is advisable to choose cheese in brine, so it will retain its taste and beneficial elements longer.
Fresh cheese does not have a hard crust. Its presence indicates long storage on the sales counter; it is better to refuse it. The composition must contain no preservatives. Only the presence of E509 hardener is permissible; it is harmless to the body. It is advisable to taste the cheese before purchasing. It is optimal to choose the fat content in the range of 25-50%; such a product will have an oily and soft structure. Even full compliance with the rules for storing cheese will not help preserve the completely beneficial properties of the delicacy. Therefore, it is advisable to buy it in small quantities and eat it immediately.
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The benefits and harms of fermented milk products
Brynza at home turns out just as tasty as from the store. To make it, you can take any milk - cow, goat, sheep and even buffalo. When prepared from store-bought milk in dairy factories, the cheese is aged for at least 2 months; homemade cheese can be eaten after 7-10 days.
Bryndza cheese is a source of milk protein, calcium, which strengthens bones and ligaments. Consumption 4-5 times a week improves intestinal function, eliminates bad breath, and normalizes acid-base and water-electrolyte balance. This product slows down aging, prevents the formation of the first wrinkles, improves joint mobility and increases muscle tone.
Having mastered the recipe for cooking at home, you will not only be confident in the safety of the product, but you will also be able to lose weight. A cheese breakfast blocks the feeling of hunger for a long time, which means you can avoid having an extra snack before lunch.
If you have diseases of the stomach, kidneys, hypertension, gall bladder and blood vessels, you can eat cheese, but it is better to limit yourself to a small piece - 20 g, no more than 2-3 times a week. This is due to increased salinity. To minimize harm, soak the cheese in boiling water or hot milk and boil for several minutes. But such methods will only help for homemade cheese, which has been kept in brine. If salt was added when introducing the starter, it is practically impossible to neutralize it.
Attention! Cheese cheese is not eaten before bedtime. After such a snack, it is difficult to get enough sleep - falling asleep is disrupted, nightmares occur
Despite the benefits of fermented milk product, it cannot replace kefir.
Types of brines and specifics of their preparation
Rapa for cheese serves as a preservative in which it slowly matures. The taste of the product and its consistency depend on the concentration of sodium chloride and other components. Often the solution is prepared with water. But to make the cheese softer, some recipes use whey. You can also store homemade cheese in cooked brine. This will extend its shelf life.
Before eating, the cheese block is removed from the brine and thoroughly dried. If the product turns out to be over-salted, it should be soaked in water or filled with vegetable oil.
Saturated
To prepare concentrated brine, you must first boil the water. For 400 ml of liquid you will need 100 g of salt. It is advisable not to use sea or iodized water. The crystals dissolve in water and cool the brine. To store cheese, its temperature should be within +5...+10°C.
Before use, add 9% acetic acid to the brine in an amount of 5-6 ml. It will help restore the balance of ions in the liquid. Some chefs advise using additional calcium chloride to reduce the absorption of fermented milk products, but add this substance carefully.
Unsaturated
Unsaturated brine is almost the same in the cooking process itself, but the proportions of salt and water are slightly different. For 500 ml of liquid you will need 100 g of table salt, 30 ml of calcium chloride and 5 ml of vinegar. The water is first boiled, then cooled to +22...+24°C and the remaining ingredients are added.
Alternative recipe
An alternative to vinegar is sugar. To prepare the solution, you need to take 500 ml of water, 60-70 g of table salt and 30-35 g of granulated sugar. Pour water into a small saucepan and add the remaining ingredients. Everything is put on the fire and brought to a boil. The finished brine needs to be cooled completely and only then poured in the cheese.
Enzymes for homemade feta cheese
For feta cheese, it is permissible to use the following brands of microbial enzymes:
- MEITO MICROBIAL RENNET is the most popular enzyme extracted from edible mushroom;
- Fungal chymosin, obtained during the fermentation of molds;
- SUPAREN is isolated from ascomycete parasitic fungi;
- MILASE – raw materials from modified mushrooms;
- MAXILACT is obtained by fermentation from milk mushrooms;
- CHY-MAX – from the mold fungus Aspergillus;
- CHYMOGEN FROMASE – from a mold fungus of the genus Mukor Miehei;
- MAXIREN is the result of fermentation of dairy yeast.
When choosing microbacterial starters, you should pay attention to the mesophilic group, since these are the additives that are used in the production of brine and soft cheeses at low cheese-making temperatures (not higher than 40°C)
Specifics of storage of various varieties
Different varieties of fermented milk snacks require completely different storage conditions.
Solid
Solid types of dairy products are stored for the longest time. The best temperature regime for them is from -3 to 0 °C. This means that these are the pieces that can be placed closer to the freezer.
Cheeses from France cannot be stored without cling film. And for Swiss ones, a closed enamel or glass container is suitable. The crust that is present on the snack is removed before consumption.
Pickled and soft
Some types of original snacks are sold in brine or whey. They are not stored without liquid. The freezer is also not suitable for them. The best place is at the bottom of the refrigerator. Use within 2-3 weeks.
Adygei cheese retains its taste even less - about 5 days. Vacuum packaging increases the period up to a month.
With mold
The original snack with noble mold is stored at slightly sub-zero temperatures for about 30 days. And if it’s positive – two weeks. Moreover, the cheese is placed in a tightly closed container, otherwise the dairy product will spoil and the inside of the refrigerator will smell bad.
Homemade
Homemade products retain their beneficial properties for 3-5 days. A plastic bag is not suitable for storage. The product is placed in a glass container with a lid.
Fine and expensive parmesan
It is better to place Parmesan in an airtight vacuum package. So, it lasts 7-8 months in the refrigerator. The period is reduced to six months if the delicacy is wrapped in parchment paper and then in foil. Parmesan cheese cut into pieces and slices retains its taste for 10-14 days. And grated - only a week.
Cheese should not be kept in the freezer on parchment for more than three months. And at room temperature, in the dark - 6 days, if the product is wrapped in a cloth soaked in a salty solution.
Undesirable neighborhood
The original snack has a porous structure and quickly absorbs the aromas of other foods. Therefore, it is not placed next to smoked products or herbs (dill, mint, lemon balm). Delicacies with mold emit a pungent odor, so they are placed in tightly closed containers. Raw meat and fish should not be placed next to cheese.
How to understand when choosing that the cheese is not spoiled
When purchasing, you need to pay attention to the following points:
- The product is milky, plastic, moist. A cracked surface or cheese crumbling into lumps indicates excessive heating in production or an expired shelf life.
- No stains on the surface or areas of discoloration. If they are present, then these are signs of beginning or already growing mold.
- The package is intact, not swollen. The opposite indicates a spoiled product.
- There is some serum in the pack. It helps maintain humidity at the desired level.
- Small holes of irregular shape are visible on the cut - signs of fermentation. The cheese was obtained naturally.
- Reasonable price. If the cost is suspiciously low, you should especially carefully study the label for the presence of milk fat substitutes and preservatives.
- Normal remaining shelf life. If you have a choice, you should give preference to a fresher product.
What kind of cheese is there?
There are these types of cheese:
:
Sheep
, it has a characteristic smell, crumbly, granular.
Cow's is more tender in taste than sheep's. ... There is also goat
, it differs in density and smell, its color can be from light cream to white.
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Salting methods
Some unusual ways to pickle cheese can be quite unusual. The taste of the product depends on them.
