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Cheese from Wisconsin, USA

Brick cheese

Cow milk is warmed to about 88 °F (31 °C), cultured and set with rennet, cut into 3/8-inch cubes and cooked slowly to about 96 °F (36 °C). Part of the whey is replaced with water to control acidity, and the curd drains in brick-shaped forms. The cheese is salted, smeared and ripened, mild after about 2 weeks and stronger after longer.

Fully documentedCheese2.6 months – 3 monthsUS standard of identity (21 CFR 133.108)Family: Washed-rind (smear-ripened) cheese family (Munster and Époisses as templates)

Recipe

Brick cheese, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Wonder al, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceThe standard fixes the steps and limits but not a recipe; the only amount it gives is the calcium chloride limit.
Cow milk, nonfat milk or cream[cfr133-108]
Lactic acid-producing culture[cfr133-108]
Rennet or another clotting enzyme[cfr133-108]
Water or salt brineReplaces part of the whey to control acidity[cfr133-108]
Salt[cfr133-108]
Calcium chlorideUp to 0.02 % of the milk weightOptional, to help coagulation[cfr133-108]
Starterlactic culture, with a surface smear during ripening

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.6 months – 3 months

Start
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31 °C

What changes: A lactic culture goes into milk warmed to about 88 °F (31 °C)

Step 1 of 7
Warm and culture the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
31 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: cultured milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

lactic culture starts the acid

Method

Measured measured in a studySet fixed by a specification or tested recipeReported one source reports itTypical a general value, not sourced for this fermentUnconfirmed not yet checked against a source

At a glance

Cow milk is warmed to about 88 °F (31 °C), cultured and set with rennet, cut into 3/8-inch cubes and cooked slowly to about 96 °F (36 °C). Part of the whey is replaced with water to control acidity, and the curd drains in brick-shaped forms. The cheese is salted, smeared and ripened, mild after about 2 weeks and stronger after longer. Made in 7 steps over 2.6 months – 3 months. The longest step, cure, takes at least 2 months (US Code of Federal Regulations) and runs at 10 °C (Ryser E.T 1989). Lactic acid-producing culture does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[cfr133-108]Cure
Temperature10 °CReported[ryser1989]Cure

What makes this one different

Brick is a US washed-curd cheese whose name may come from its shape or from the bricks once used as press weights. It sits between Limburger and Emmentaler in character.

Milk
Cow milk, nonfat milk or cream
Ripening
Smear for 2–4 weeks; at least 60 days if made from unpasteurized milk
Composition
At least 50 % milkfat in solids; at most 44 % moisture

Related ferments

Variants

  • Mild brickSmear ripened about 2 weeks.
  • Aged brickSmear ripened about 3 weeks, or longer for a Limburger-like cheese.

Safety

The US standard requires at least 60 days of curing at not less than 35 °F for cheese made from unpasteurized milk. Challenge studies showed Listeria monocytogenes and pathogenic E. coli can grow during making and smear ripening. The 60-day rule is not a guarantee of safety. The FDA itself says 60 days may not eliminate or adequately reduce E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella in raw-milk cheese, and Listeria may grow in some cheeses during ageing.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes grew on the smear in a challenge study and survived 20–22 weeks at 10 °C; Enteropathogenic Escherichia coli rose 1000-fold during making in a challenge study.

History and sources

Every number is labelled with how it is known. How this atlas is made

A 1928 USDA bulletin calls brick purely American, made in many southern Wisconsin factories.

  1. [cfr133-108] US Code of Federal Regulations, 21 CFR 133.108 Brick cheese (via Cornell LII)gov
  2. [usda1928] Doane C.F., Lawson H.W., revised by Matheson K.J. 1928, Varieties of cheese, descriptions and analyses, USDA Bulletin 608archive
  3. [ryser1989] Ryser E.T., Marth E.H. 1989, Behavior of Listeria monocytogenes during manufacture and ripening of brick cheese, Journal of Dairy Science 72:838–853paper
  4. [frank1978] Frank J.F., Marth E.H., Olson N.F. 1978, Behavior of enteropathogenic Escherichia coli during manufacture and ripening of brick cheese, Journal of Food Protection 41:111–115paper
  5. [fda-rawcheese2016] US Food and Drug Administration 2016, FY 2014–2016 Microbiological Sampling Assignment Summary Report, Raw Milk Cheese Aged 60 Daysgov