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Cheese from Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Prov. Bolzano

Innichner Bergkäse (Montagna San Candido)

Mountain cow milk is skimmed to 3.0% fat, pasteurised and set with local lactic cultures and calf rennet. The corn-size curd is washed with hot water, moulded without pressing and brined, then kept about two weeks in a warm room at about 20 °C, where gas opens large oval eyes. It ripens about two months at 85–92% humidity.

Fully documentedCheese2.4 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Autonomous Province of Bolzano; 21st national list, March 2021)Family: Washed-curd cheese family (Gouda as template)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedMade in one cooperative dairy; the sheets give no batch size or doses. A wheel weighs about 12 kg.
Mountain cow milk, skimmed to 3.0% fat and pasteurised[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Local lactic cultures[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Calf rennet, liquid or powder[onaf-sheet]
Hot water (curd washing)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt (brine)[pat-sheet]
Starterlocal lactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.4 months

Start
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What changes: The milk is skimmed to 3% fat and pasteurised

Step 1 of 8
Skim and pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

Mountain cow milk is skimmed to 3.0% fat, pasteurised and set with local lactic cultures and calf rennet. The corn-size curd is washed with hot water, moulded without pressing and brined, then kept about two weeks in a warm room at about 20 °C, where gas opens large oval eyes. It ripens about two months at 85–92% humidity. Made in 8 steps over 2.4 months. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 2 months (Autonomous Province of Bolzano).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature35–37 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Add cultures and rennet

What makes this one different

Its curd is washed with hot water, and after brining the wheels spend about two weeks in a 20 °C warm room, where enzymatic reactions produce the gas that opens large, slightly torn eyes. The paste is deeper yellow in summer, when the cows are on pasture.

Rind
Edible, thin, elastic, intense straw
Size
About 38 cm across and 10 cm high, about 12 kg

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised before cheesemaking, and the finished cheese is kept at 1–10 °C.

History and sources

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

The Dobbiaco dairy cooperative was founded in 1883 as one of the first in South Tyrol. The province form says that as its milk deliveries grew, the dairy needed a cheese that could be ripened and carried over longer distances. This cheese is named after the area where the milk is produced.

  1. [pat-sheet] Autonomous Province of Bolzano, PAT product form no. 11 'Innichner Bergkäse - Montagna San Candido' (Art. 8 D.Lgs. 173/98), copy hosted by ONAFgov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Innichner Bergkäse (Montagna San Candido)'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Innichner Bergkäse' (id 1268)web