Brined cheese behaves almost as if carbonated

Brined cheese behaves almost as if carbonated - Bread With White Cream on White Ceramic Plate

I bought (at least what I thought was) some Bulgarian/Turkish-style brined soft cheese today, and when I got home I noticed the container seemed over-pressurised (it's sold in a kind of tall tin can/metal cylinder, and both ends bulged noticeably).

Upon opening I, hardy surpricing, got the soda bottle effect (and a bunch of brine over my shirt). The whole thing smells kinda strange (I can't think of a better word than "chemical") and the brine behaved almost as if carbonated (it "fizzed" when I took out a bit of cheese), but there's nothing visibly strange about the cheese itself.

I tasted a tiny piece (taken from the inside of a block and after quickly rinsing it), and it has a very strange, rather acrid taste. I've bought similar soft cheeses from the same producer before (a couple of different kinds), and they've always been fine.

As I'd feel silly for throwing out 1kg of cheese due to being uneducated I'd like to know whether the cheese is simply off or if it's of some variety unknown to me. If the latter case, what is one supposed to do with it? In the, arguably, more likely case that it's simply contaminated/gone bad, I'd be curious to know why it's behaving the way it does.

Some additional info:

  • Just noticed it has expiry date today. That being said, I can't remember having any problems with similar cheeses even few days after the expiry date, and then after having been opened several days earlier.

  • The ingredients list is as follows: "Pasteurized milk, salt, starter culture, vegetable rennet"

  • There's a large label in some language Google Translate identifies as Turkish, but more or less fails to translate:

    Bildiǧiniz lezzet, özlediǧiniz peynir!

    Onbir ayin sultani

    RAMAZAN'A [iFTAR'LIK VE SAHUR'LUK] öZEL PAYNiR

food-safetycheese


Best Answer

This cheese sounds completely off. I urge you to discard it.

There are no cheeses I know of that should generate pressure like that, nor have an acrid odor.



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What cheeses are brined?

Brined cheeses include:
  • Akkawi (Levant)
  • Balk\xe1nsk\xfd s\xfdr (Czechia and Slovakis)
  • Bryndza (Romania, Slovakia, Russia)
  • Chechil (Armenia)
  • Cherni Vit (Bulgaria)
  • Domiati (Egypt)
  • Feta (Greece)
  • Halloumi (Cyprus)


What is brine cheese made from?

Brined cheeses are generally rindless and are produced in the form of blocks of various shapes and sizes (cubes, bricks, or segments) covered in salt brine or whey.

What cheese is stored in brine?

One method is to add salt directly to the curds during milling, and the other method is to soak the pressed cheese in a brine solution. Cheese like Parmesan, Romano, Feta and Edam are soaked in brine so that the salt is absorbed and it preserves the cheese. Others like to brine Caerphilly or Camembert.

Is brie brined?

Similar Content to: Brie CheeseThe salty brining solution helps to limit the growth of unwanted bacteria that can produce a foul taste in the cheese (although in other stages of the cheese making process, some types of good bacteria are necessary for producing the cheese).


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Images: Amar Preciado, chicken mackay, Ron Lach, Mizzu Cho

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