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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, the Brie country east of Paris

Brie de Melun PDOBrie de Melun

Brie de Melun is a raw cow's milk soft cheese with a white bloomy rind, set mainly by lactic souring rather than by rennet. The ripened milk takes at least 16 hours to curdle, and the broken curd is ladled by hand into small 27–28 cm moulds, drained slowly, dry-salted and ripened for at least five weeks. Made in 8 steps over 3.5 months – 4 months. The longest step, ripen to the core, takes 56 days – 2.3 months (Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'alimentati…). Mesophilic lactic acid bacteria from the raw milk and the starter, which drive the long lactic set and Surface yeasts and moulds (allowed as cultures) that form the white felted rind with red or brown streaks do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step56 days – 2.3 monthsSet[cdc-melun2020]Ripen to the core
Temperatureup to 35 °CSet[cdc-melun2020]Ripen the milk with starter
AciditypH up to 6.5 → 4.8Set[cdc-melun2020]Rennet and set slowly
Fully documentedCheese3.5 months – 4 monthsPDO (EU, 1996); Appellation d'Origine since 1980Family: Bloomy-rind soft cheese family (Camembert de Normandie as template)More bloomy-rind cheesesMore from France

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification fixes limits, not a recipe. Each cheese is made in a mould 27–28 cm across and weighs 1.5–2.2 kg when sold.
Raw cow milk · Collected at least every 48 h; fat standardised by skimming part of the milk at 40 °C or less and adding it back to whole milk; microfiltered, concentrated or powdered milk is banned[cdc-melun2020]
up to 4% of the milk volumeLactic starter (levain) · Mesophilic cultures grown at 25 °C or less; thermophilic cultures are banned[cdc-melun2020]
at most 15 mg per 100 L, at most 750 mg chymosin per litreBovine rennet[cdc-melun2020]
Cultures of bacteria, yeasts and moulds · Allowed, with calcium chloride; nothing else may be added[cdc-melun2020]
Dry salt · Rubbed on both faces and the rim; salting in brine is not allowed[cdc-melun2020]
Startermesophilic lactic starter; a small dose of bovine rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.5 months – 4 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to 35 °Cshapes, not to countLactic acid bacteriaYeastsMoulds

What changes: Lactic starter goes into the raw milk, which slowly starts to sour

Step 1 of 8
Ripen the milk with starter
Time
up to 2 days
Set
Temperature
up to 35 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts
Moulds

Output: ripened raw milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

Not documented for this step.

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

What makes this one different

Brie de Meaux is set mainly with rennet in a larger mould. Brie de Melun relies on a slow lactic set of at least 16 hours, which gives a smaller, denser, more acid and longer-keeping cheese. It may only be salted with dry salt.

Milk
Raw cow milk only, partly skimmed
Setting
Mainly lactic; at least 16 h, ending below pH 4.8
Ripening
At least 5 weeks from renneting; ripe to the core at 8–10 weeks
Size
Mould 27–28 cm across; 1.5–2.2 kg
Composition
At least 45 g fat per 100 g dry matter and at least 40 g dry matter per 100 g of cheese

Related ferments

Safety

This is a raw-milk soft cheese. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat raw-milk cheeses other than hard cooked ones, because of Listeria, Salmonella and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli. Cooking the cheese removes the risk.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, enterohaemorrhagic E. coli and Staphylococcus aureus (risks ANSES names for raw-milk cheeses).

History and sources

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

The specification says Furetière's 17th-century dictionary mentions Brie, very likely of Melun, as a keeping cheese. In the late 19th century Brie makers split into small lactic cheeses (Melun) and larger rennet-set ones. The agronomist A. Vivier described Brie de Melun in 1900, a defence union was founded in 1913, and the cheese became an appellation in August 1980.

  1. [cdc-melun2020] Ministère de l'agriculture et de l'alimentation, Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine protégée « Brie de Melun », annexed to the notice in BO-Agri n° 2020-32 following Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2020/1103spec
  2. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov