I leave my Feta out to dry for a day or two before salting, then brining for storage. For me, this produces a creamy, but crumbly texture as a whole.

Unfortunately once you brine your Feta it normally creates a hardened surface so drying it now would probably not change the texture at all. I’m sure it’s perfectly eatable though so perhaps use it chopped into small pieces in salads and start again.

Hi Tania

No, aging at room temperature is done before you put your cheese in the brine. It should be done in a covered container of some sort.

Hello,
Many thanks for your advice. I did notice whey extracting and the surface firming up that is why I was so surprised it melted.

Please can you explain what you mean by aging the feta at room temp for 3 days after dry salting? Do you mean in the brine?

Thanks again
Tania

Hi Tania

When your Feta melts like that it is almost always because of a difference between your Feta and the whey. Essentially the whey pulls from the cheese, and causes it to melt. Was your salting sufficient during the 3 day aging? Did you notice additional whey extracting and the surface of the cheese firming up? Calcium is obviously present even in unpasteurised milk so adding calcium to your whey may help. Your other option is to increase the salt levels in the brine to see if that helps. A saturated brine is up to 26% salt so 6-8% could still be too low. I usually use a brine of 12-14% for my Feta, and this seems to work well.

Hi Johnny

The salt, and the aging period, is what will help you to create that wonderful Feta taste and texture. By bypassing either of these steps you will likely end up with a cheese that is less characteristic and possibly even a bland, soft cheese. The olive oil is a preservative, not an aging medium, and the salt is required to add to the taste and texture, but also to balance the cheese out. Feta will still melt in olive oil if it is not in the right state when it is put into the oil. My recommendation is to do your salting, and aging, and see what you get at the end. If you don’t like the results, you can also tweak things but it’s not worth missing steps out at the risk of ending up with a bad cheese. Good luck : )

Hi Serge

Thanks for the feedback. Washing or soaking salty Feta in milk is a great way to get it back to a more palatable taste.

I am very new to making feta cheese and I have had a problem with the cheese melting after my first batch. I read your comments about this but I have a couple of question I hope you can answer please.

I have used raw goats milk (so didn’t use calcium when making) then placed it in whey (5 1/2 tbsp per 20fl oz, the Greek recommendation is 6-8%) after salting at room temperature for 3 days. The feta melted and I’m not sure why?

You say the ph of the whey needs to be right for the feta. How do you test this? Do you mean you check the ph level of the cheese and then the whey has to be the same?

Would you also suggest using calcium in the whey even if the milk was unpasteurized?

Any advice would be really appreciated as I am hoping to use the feta in my catering business eventually.

Many thanks
Tania

If you like Feta a bit less salty try this; stored it in milk an haour or two instead of plain water it won’t get spongy