Ledger / Soft ripened / 2026-09-03
Taleggio: Salting in 18% Brine and Washing the Rind Every Second Day
Taleggio is a square, lightly pressed, washed-rind soft cheese. The wash is what does the work, and the schedule matters more than the strength: every second day for the first three weeks, then every fourth day. Miss a wash in week two and the orange coat stalls.
Each segment is as wide as its share of the 110 minutes in the vat; the set segment carries the set temperature, the cut segment carries the cut size.
Salt and press drawer
Press ladder
- 1.0 kg1.0 h
- 2.0 kg5.0 h
2-3% brine wiped over the surface every 2-3 days. Selects for Brevibacterium linens and the orange, oniony rind.
Press at 2 kg, but only just
0.6% mesophilic culture at 33 C, ripened thirty minutes, 24 IMCU of animal rennet per litre, forty-five minute set. Cut to 25 mm and raise to 36 C over fifteen minutes. Drain for forty minutes.
Press at 1 kg for an hour, then 2 kg for five more. That is light for a cheese this size. Taleggio is supposed to keep a soft, slightly open paste; a heavier press closes it and the wash cannot get in.
Eighteen percent brine for four hours
Make the brine at 18% by weight, 180 g of salt per litre of water, and chill it to 10 C. Submerge the squares for four hours per kilo of cheese, so a 1.8 kg square gets seven hours.
Brining at 18% and a low temperature salts the outside quickly without pulling too much water from the paste. A 12% brine needs longer, and by the time the centre is right the rind is waterlogged and the wash will not take.
Wash on a fixed schedule, not by eye
Dilute the brine to 3% and wipe the whole surface with a cloth soaked in it. Day 2, 4, 6, 8 and so on for three weeks, then every fourth day. Use a fresh cloth each time; a reused cloth carries the wrong flora and gives grey patches in the middle of the orange.
The first orange tint appears around day six. Around day ten the rind smells strongly of fermented fruit and slightly of feet, which is normal and is the whole point of the style. If it smells of ammonia instead, the humidity is too high; drop it to 85% and turn the boxes.
Five weeks at 10 C, then wrap
Age at 10 C and 90% RH in a box with the lid slightly ajar, turning every second day. At five weeks the paste is soft right through and the rind is a deep orange-brown with a pinkish tint.
Wrap in greaseproof paper and hold at 5 C. Taleggio goes from perfect to ammoniated in about four days once it is fully ripe, so eat it within a week of the paste softening.
Aging parameters
| Milk | Pasteurised cow milk 3.5% fat |
|---|---|
| Culture | Mesophilic 20–30 °C |
| Rennet | Calf rennet (animal) 24 IMCU/L |
| pH at drain | 5.7 target 6.1–6.5 |
| Target moisture | 58 % |
| Cave temperature | 10 °C |
| Cave humidity | 90 % |
| Aging days | 35 days |
| Rind treatment | Brine wash |
| Yield | 1.3 kg |
Pasteurised cow milk Soft ripened 35 days
Defect diagnosis
Flagged on this make: Misread surface mould、Faulty eye formation
Bitterness not seen
Signal — A harsh, lingering bitter note at the back of the palate, strongest in the first three weeks and often fading after six.
Cause — Too much rennet for the set time, or a microbial coagulant with high protease activity, or a scald that never got past 38 C.
Fix — Cut the dose by 20% next make and hold the scald 2 C higher for 10 minutes longer. Bitter peptides are water-soluble, so a 12% brine for 24 hours pulls some out.
Rancidity not seen
Signal — Soapy, paint-like smell that hits before the cheese reaches the mouth. Sharp and unpleasant rather than merely strong.
Cause — Free fatty acids released by lipase, usually from raw milk that sat warm too long, or from rennet paste, or from a knife or cloth that carried old milk residue.
Fix — Chill milk to 4 C within two hours of milking and pasteurise anything older than 24 hours. Retire the cloth: boil it, do not just rinse it.
Faulty eye formation seen this make
Signal — Either no eyes where the style demands them, or a scatter of irregular slits and cracks instead of round, evenly spaced holes.
Cause — Coliform or yeast contamination from unsanitary brine, or a press that was too cold (below 18 C) so the propionic culture never woke up, or too much salt killing it outright.
Fix — Boil and re-salt the brine to 18-20% between batches, press at 20-22 C for the first six hours, and keep the salt under 1.6% for eye-forming styles.
Misread surface mould seen this make
Signal — A grey-green or black fuzzy patch on a rind that was supposed to be white or orange, or blue speckling on a hard cheese.
Cause — Wild Penicillium and Cladosporium from a cave with moving air and standing humidity. Also from brushing a good rind with a damp, dirty brush.
Fix — Distinguish before you discard: white felt and orange smear are wanted, green fuzz on a hard rind is surface only and rubs off with 3% brine. Black patches that pit the paste mean the wheel is lost.
Four things to carry forward
- 0.6% mesophilic, 24 IMCU/litre at 33 C, 45-minute set
- Press only 2 kg for five hours to keep the paste open
- 18% brine at 10 C for four hours per kilo
- Wash with 3% brine every second day for three weeks