Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Home

Cheese from England, within fifty miles of Dovedale

Dovedale Cheese PDODovedale

Pasteurised whole cow milk is set with Hartington's own starter and blue mould cultures and rennet, then cut, drained and filled into hoops. The cheeses are brined, pierced and ripened at 8–14 °C, and are normally sent out at three to four weeks old as a soft, creamy blue. The specification calls the brining unique to Dovedale within the UK.

Fully documentedCheesePDO (EU, registered 1996)Family: Blue-veined cheese family (Roquefort as template)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceTypical content of the finished cheese as the specification lists it; one cheese weighs 2.0–2.75 kg (average 2.5 kg).
Whole cow milk, pasteurised96.5 %[dovedale-spec]
Starter culture0/5 % (as printed in the specification)Strains developed at Hartington[dovedale-spec]
RennetTrace[dovedale-spec]
Blue mould cultureTraceStrains developed at Hartington[dovedale-spec]
Salt3 %[dovedale-spec]
StarterHartington starter culture and blue mould culture
Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: The milk is pasteurised before the cultures go in

Step 1 of 6
Pasteurise local milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Moulds

Milk comes from local farms; at peak times milk from Shropshire and Cheshire is blended in.

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

Pasteurised whole cow milk is set with Hartington's own starter and blue mould cultures and rennet, then cut, drained and filled into hoops. The cheeses are brined, pierced and ripened at 8–14 °C, and are normally sent out at three to four weeks old as a soft, creamy blue. The specification calls the brining unique to Dovedale within the UK. Salt is 2–4 % (Defra). Starter culture and Blue mould culture do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Temperature8–14 °CSet[dovedale-spec]Pierce and mature
Salt2–4 %Set[dovedale-spec]Brine
AciditypH 5–6Set[dovedale-spec]Pierce and mature

What makes this one different

Dovedale is a soft blue from the Stilton makers' creamery at Hartington, but it is dipped in brine during maturation, which the specification calls unique to Dovedale within the UK. It is softer and younger than Stilton, sent out at three to four weeks.

Milk
Pasteurised whole cow milk from the Peak District
Paste
Soft blue; moisture 40–60 %, fat 25–35 %, salt 2.0–4.0 %, pH 5.0–6.0 (target ranges at despatch)
Age at despatch
Normally 3–4 weeks from manufacture
Size
Cylinder 60–80 mm high, about 200 mm across, 2.0–2.75 kg

Related ferments

Safety

Made from pasteurised milk. The specification tests the cheese at despatch and rejects it with Listeria monocytogenes or Salmonella in 25 g, or more than 100 S. aureus or 500 E. coli per gram. Salmonella is tested on 2 samples a year. It ships at 5 °C with a 32-day shelf life.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella, Staphylococcus aureus and E. coli, each with a limit in the specification's despatch tests.

History and sources

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

The specification says Hartington in Derbyshire has been a blue cheese manufacturing site since approximately 1870. The creamery first opened in the 1870s and began making Stilton in 1886. Dairy Crest Limited applied to register Dovedale as a PDO, citing the three staff who make it and skills passed down in the workforce. The name was entered in the EU register in 1996 (Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96).

  1. [dovedale-spec] Defra, Product specification "Dovedale Cheese" PDO, UK protected food names registerspec
  2. [dovedale-sum1994] Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Application for registration under Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, Dovedale Cheese, summary sheet UK/0300 (eAmbrosia)spec
  3. [oj1996] Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996 on the registration of geographical indications and designations of origin under the procedure laid down in Article 17 of Council Regulation (EEC) No 2081/92, Official Journal L 148, 21.6.1996 (Annex lists Dovedale cheese as a PDO)spec