Brick cheese is a

cheese Cheese is a dairy product produced in wide ranges of flavors, textures, and forms by coagulation of the milk protein casein. It comprises proteins and fat from milk, usually the milk of cows, buffalo, goats, or sheep. During production, ...

from

Wisconsin Wisconsin () is a state in the upper Midwestern United States. Wisconsin is the 25th-largest state by total area and the 20th-most populous. It is bordered by Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake M ...

U.S. The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

, made in brick-shaped form. The color ranges from pale yellow to white, and the cheese has a sweet and mild flavor when young, and matures into a strong, ripe cheese with age. It is a medium-soft cheese.

Origins

Brick cheese was originally produced in Wisconsin beginning in 1877. The cheese-making process was derived from white American

Cheddar Cheddar most often refers to either: *Cheddar cheese *Cheddar, Somerset, the village after which Cheddar cheese is named Cheddar may also refer to: Places * Cheddar, Ontario, Canada * Cheddar Yeo, a river which flows through Cheddar Gorge and t ...

that is cultured at a slightly higher temperature, which results in a marginally higher fat content and a slightly altered protein structure. The resultant "brick cheese" has a slightly softer texture.

Production process

Brick cheese is made in the form of a large rectangular or brick shape, but may also be named "brick" because the

cheese curds Cheese curds are moist pieces of curdled milk, eaten either alone or as a snack, or used in prepared dishes. They are consumed throughout the northern United States and Canada. Notably, cheese curds are popular in Quebec, as part of the dish ...

are pressed with clay-fired bricks.

Culturing

Brevibacterium linens ''Brevibacterium linens'' is a gram-positive, rod-shaped bacterium. It is the type species of the family '' Brevibacteriaceae''. ''Brevibacterium linens'' is ubiquitously present on the human skin, where it causes foot odor. The familiar odor i ...

'' grows on the surface of brick cheese, making it surface-ripened. ''Brevibacterium linens'' is also the bacterium responsible for the aging of

Limburger Limburger (in southern Dutch contexts Rommedoe, and in Belgium Herve cheese) is a cheese that originated in the Herve area of the historical Duchy of Limburg, which had its capital in Limbourg-sur-Vesdre, now in the French-speaking Belgian pr ...

cheese and many French cheese varieties. Cheesemakers often refer to the growth of the bacteria as a ''smear''. This is reflected in the ''Brevibacterium's'' species name ''linens'' which is Latin for 'besmearing'. The cheese is placed on wooden shelves, then gets washed with a whey and water mixture and turned. After several days the cheese is then packaged.

Regulations

The US Code of Federal Regulations defines what the fat and moisture content of brick cheese must be. This

Standard of Identity Standards of identity for food are mandatory requirements that are set by a governing body to determine what a food product must contain to be marketed under a certain name in allowable commerce. Mandatory standards, which differ from voluntary grad ...

does not take into account that brick cheese should be surface-ripened with ''B. linens''.

Corynebacterium ''Corynebacterium'' () is a genus of Gram-positive bacteria and most are aerobe, aerobic. They are bacillus (shape), bacilli (rod-shaped), and in some phases of life they are, more specifically, club (weapon), club-shaped, which inspired the gen ...

and

Arthrobacter ''Arthrobacter'' (from the Greek, "jointed small stick”) is a genus of bacteria that is commonly found in soil. All species in this genus are Gram-positive obligate aerobes that are rods during exponential growth and cocci in their stationary ...

are the necessary bacterial genera for smear cheese ripening. ''

'', while present in many smear cultures, is not typical.

Applications

Brick cheese is the traditional cheese for

Detroit-style pizza Detroit-style pizza is a rectangular pizza with a thick crust that is crispy and chewy. It is traditionally topped with Wisconsin brick cheese that goes all the way to the edges and caramelizes against the high-sided heavyweight rectangular pa ...

References

External links

The Story of Wisconsin Brick Cheese
{{American cheeses American cheeses