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Cheese from Turkey

Beyaz peynirbeyaz peynir

Beyaz peynir is among the most produced industrial cheeses in Turkey, a white, brined block cheese with a salty, acid taste. In the pilot-plant make cited, pasteurised milk is cultured and renneted at 32 °C, cut, pressed into a curd sheet (teleme) and cut into blocks. The blocks are salted in strong brine and ripen in weaker brine in the cold for weeks to months.

Fully documentedCheese2.1 months – 3.3 monthsFamily: White brined cheese family (Feta PDO as template)

Recipe

Beyaz peynir, a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: E4024, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceAmounts from one pilot-plant make (Yaman et al. 2023); the percentages are of the milk weight or of the brine.
Whole cow milkPasteurised at 65 °C for 30 min in one make[yaman2023]
Mesophilic starter (Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and subsp. cremoris)0.002 %[yaman2023]
Calcium chloride0.2 %[yaman2023]
RennetA chymosin product (CHY-MAX) in the make cited[yaman2023]
Salt16 % NaCl brine, then 12 % brine[yaman2023]
Startermesophilic Lactococcus lactis cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months – 3.3 months

Start
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65 °C

What changes: The milk is held at 65 °C for 30 minutes

Step 1 of 6
Pasteurise the milk
Time
30 min
Reported
Temperature
65 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis

Output: pasteurised 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

At a glance

Beyaz peynir is among the most produced industrial cheeses in Turkey, a white, brined block cheese with a salty, acid taste. In the pilot-plant make cited, pasteurised milk is cultured and renneted at 32 °C, cut, pressed into a curd sheet (teleme) and cut into blocks. The blocks are salted in strong brine and ripen in weaker brine in the cold for weeks to months. Made in 6 steps over 2.1 months – 3.3 months. The longest step, ripen in brine in the cold, takes 2.1–3.3 months (Güven M 2006) and runs at 4–8 °C (Yaman H 2023). Salt is 16 % (Yaman H 2023). Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis and subsp. cremoris does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2.1–3.3 monthsReported[guven2006][yaman2023]Ripen in brine in the cold
Temperature4–8 °CReported[yaman2023][guven2006]Ripen in brine in the cold
Salt16 %Reported[yaman2023]Cut into blocks and brine
AciditypH 6.4Reported[yaman2023]Add starter and rennet

What makes this one different

Beyaz peynir is pressed into a flat curd sheet (teleme) before it is cut into blocks. Brine strength matters. In a nine-week trial, brines stronger than 14 g NaCl per 100 g water went with less proteolysis and lower acceptability than a 12 g brine.

Milk
Cow milk in the studies cited; the cheese is also made from other milks
Ripening
At least three weeks for fresh classic cheese; up to six months for Ezine-type cheese
Brine
12, 14, 16 or 18 g NaCl per 100 g water in the four brines of one trial; the 12 g brine gave the best flavour and acceptability

Related ferments

Variants

  • Ezine peyniriA white cheese ripened up to six months.
  • Kırklareli beyaz peyniriA protected origin name for white cheese from Kırklareli province, made from cow milk or a sheep, goat and cow blend, pasteurised at 63–65 °C and ripened at least 6 months in tins of brine.

Safety

The pilot-plant make used pasteurised cow milk (65 °C for 30 min) and ripened the cheese in 12 % brine at 4 °C; the salt trial ripened it at 7 ± 1 °C for 9 weeks.

History and sources

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

The TÜRKPATENT specification for the regional style Kırklareli Beyaz Peyniri says it has been made since the 18th century. That name was filed on 6 July 2018 and registered as a protected origin name, No. 636, on 23 December 2020.

  1. [yaman2023] Yaman H., Aykas D.P., Rodriguez-Saona L.E. 2023, Monitoring Turkish white cheese ripening by portable FT-IR spectroscopy, Frontiers in Nutrition 10:1107491paper
  2. [guven2006] Güven M., Yerlikaya S., Hayaloglu A.A. 2006, Influence of salt concentration on the characteristics of Beyaz cheese, a Turkish white-brined cheese, Le Lait 86(1):73–81, doi:10.1051/lait:2005043 (abstract)paper
  3. [hayaloglu2002] Hayaloglu A.A., Guven M., Fox P.F. 2002, Microbiological, biochemical and technological properties of Turkish White cheese 'Beyaz Peynir', International Dairy Journal 12:635–648 (review; abstract read)paper
  4. [turkpatent636] TÜRKPATENT (Turkish Patent and Trademark Office), geographical sign No. 636, origin name 'Kırklareli Beyaz Peyniri', registered 23.12.2020 (application C2018/148)spec