If you’ve been following my series on making Galen’s Good Old—my gouda-style cheese—you know I’ve covered washing curds and damming them together. Now it’s time for the final step, brining, that turns those pressed curds into the finished cheese you buy.
Brining cheese is one of the oldest preservation techniques in cheesemaking, dating back centuries. Cultures across Europe and beyond recognized that salt was essential for preservation and flavor development. But there’s real science behind why brining works so well.
When I place the wheels in the brine tank, salt doesn’t instantly coat the cheese. Instead, it slowly diffuses inward through osmosis and diffusion. The salt concentration in the brine draws moisture from the cheese, while salt molecules gradually migrate deeper into the wheel. This is why timing matters. I keep the wheels in the brine tank for 36 hours—just long enough for the salt to soak into the center of each wheel. Too short, and the inside stays bland. Too long, and the cheese becomes overly salty.
Halfway through the brining time, I will turn the wheels over and sprinkle more salt on top. This ensures that the salt soaks in evenly from both ends of the wheel and fully saturates each wheel.
I maintain the brine tank in the cooler filled with a saturated solution of salt in whey. As the wheels soak, calcium leaches from the cheese into the brine solution. To prevent this from throwing off the balance, I regularly add calcium to keep the mineral content steady. I also monitor salt saturation levels closely, adding salt as needed. This ongoing maintenance ensures that every wheel gets the same consistent treatment.
Once brining is complete, the wheels move to the 55F aging room. For the first month, my team and I wash each wheel weekly with a brine solution, keeping unwanted molds at bay while beneficial ones develop.
After two months of aging, some wheels become Galen’s Good Old—creamy and delicious. Others age longer, becoming Galen’s Reserve after 12 months or more. Each path creates something different, all because of the careful work that happens in that brine tank.
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