The amount of salt in cheese

The amount of salt retained in the cheese is governed by a multitude of factors, as given below.

• The level or percentage of added salt
• Method of salting (I.e. addition of salt to the milled curd or brining the pressed cheese);
• Duration of salting
• Moisture content of the cheese and
• Type of cheese etc.

Caerphilly cheese is the only British variety where the curd is salted at the rate of 1.0%. he cheese is dry salted while it is being turned in the press, and finally immersed in brine (i.e. 18% concentration) at 15-16°C for 12 – 24 h.

Percentage of Salt added	Cheese variety
1.6 – 1.8	Wensleydale
1.7 – 1.9	Single and double Gloucester
1.8 – 2.0	Cheshire, Cotswold, Derby, Dunlop, Kingston and Leicester
2.5 – 3.0	Cheddar

Cheese brine is a sodium chloride solution and its concentration is expressed either as percentage NaCl (w/w) (e.g. saturated brine is 35% NaCl) or Baume. The brining conditions of the Swiss, Italian and Dutch cheese may vary slightly.

WHAT IS A BRINE TANK?

Brine Tanks

Most brine tanks are made of plastic, in order to minimize the corrosive effects of the salt. In some instance, the stainless steel racks filled with cheese are supported with nylon netting before immersion in to the brine. The construction of the brine tank has to take in to account the following things.

• Salt dosing equipment i.e. dry form or solution, so that the desired concentration of the brine can be maintained.
• Temperature control mechanism so that the cheese can be brined at two different temperatures, e.g. at 18 - 20°C for the first few hours, followed by 14°C at during the brining of Danbo cheese in the brine tank.
• Provision of some eccentric movements of the racking unit in the brine tank, in order to overcome the problem of cheese buoyancy resting on the same bars during the brining stage.
• In large cheese factories, the brining and handing of cheese is highly automated.

The quality control of the brine is critical because it can influence the quality of the cheese and some important points that have to be taken care include

• Maintaining the right concentration of salt
• Monitoring for microbiological contamination, e.g. total count, coliforms, yeasts and moulds.
• Maintaining the appropriate temperature
• Monitoring the whey content, which leads to the formation of sludge and hence a shift in pH
• Maintaining the calcium content in the region of 0.17 – 0.24% for semi hard cheese, which corresponds to the calcium percentage in the cheese; lower calcium concentrations in the brine can affect the firmness of the rind.

Milling, Salting and Filling

Milling, salting / brining and / or Mould filling

The methods available to handle the curd at this stage of production depend on the type of cheese produced, but the handling of the curd can be classified as detailed below.

Mould filling / Pressing / Brining - Parmesan, Grana, Gouda / Edam

Milling / Salting / Mould Filling / Pressing - Cheddar and related British territorial

It is evident, however, that the above division is also applicable to the method of salting the cheese curd, i.e. salting for Cheddar and related varieties and brining for Swiss, Italian and Dutch cheeses. In some of the Italian and Swiss, the surface of the pressed curd is rubbed with dry salt in order to produce a harder rind to protect the cheese during the maturation period.

Milling equipment:

Most of the mechanized equipment employed for the manufacture of cheddar cheese includes automated milling and / or salting and mellowing facilities. The matted curd is cut in to curd chips of roughly 1.25 – 1.85 cm square section and 17.5 – 20.0 cm in length. However, the length of the curd chip is influenced by depth of the matted curd, space between the rotating blades, speed of the rotating cutters and design of the mill.

An alternative type of mill, which could be employed during the manufacture of most British varieties, is the peg type. However a different type of peg mill is used for milling Cheshire cheese curd to give granular pieces, which help the finished cheese to attain the crumbly texture characteristics.