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Cheese from United States

Liederkranz

Liederkranz is a small, soft American cow-milk cheese ripened by a surface smear, like a very mild Limburger. In the 1953 USDA account, pasteurised milk with starter is set with rennet at about 86 °F, the curd is dipped into perforated forms, dry-salted and cured at about 45 °F for 3–4 weeks while surface organisms ripen it from the outside in.

Fully documentedCheese21 days – 28 daysnone (trade name)Family: Washed-rind (smear-ripened) cheese family (Munster and Époisses as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHistorical factory account with no batch size or doses. Each cheese was about 2½ × 1½ × 1 inches and weighed 5 to 6 ounces.
Whole cow milk, pasteurised[usda-hb54]
Starter and rennet[usda-hb54]
Dry salt[usda-hb54]
Starterstarter added to the pasteurised milk; surface organisms ripen the cheese

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days – 28 days

Start
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30 °C

What changes: Starter and rennet go into pasteurised milk at about 30 °C

Step 1 of 5
Pasteurise and set the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
30 °C
Reported
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

Liederkranz is a small, soft American cow-milk cheese ripened by a surface smear, like a very mild Limburger. In the 1953 USDA account, pasteurised milk with starter is set with rennet at about 86 °F, the curd is dipped into perforated forms, dry-salted and cured at about 45 °F for 3–4 weeks while surface organisms ripen it from the outside in. Made in 5 steps over 21 days – 28 days. The longest step, cure with a surface smear, takes 21–28 days (Sanders G.P. 1953) and runs at 7 °C (Sanders G.P. 1953).

Key numbers
Main step21–28 daysReported[usda-hb54]Cure with a surface smear
Temperature7 °CReported[usda-hb54]Cure with a surface smear

What makes this one different

Liederkranz is an American smear-ripened cheese, close to a mild Limburger but smaller and softer, cured cold for only 3–4 weeks.

Milk
Pasteurised whole cow milk
Ripening
3–4 weeks at about 45 °F (1953)
Composition
Moisture 54 %, fat 24.2 % (over 50 % of solids), protein 16.8 %, ash 3.9 % (1953 analysis)

Related ferments

Variants

  • Revived LiederkranzMade again in Wisconsin by DCI Cheese Company after production had stopped.

Safety

In the 1953 USDA account the milk is pasteurised and the cheeses are cured cold, at about 45 °F. The same account calls the cheeses rather perishable; they hold 54 % moisture and were wrapped in tinfoil for sale.

History and sources

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

Emil Frey, a Swiss cheesemaker at the Monroe Cheese Company in Monroe, New York, developed it after two years of trials and named it after a New York singing society. The company announced its move to Van Wert, Ohio, in January 1926. A 1928 USDA bulletin records it as made at Van Wert under copyright. Production stopped in 1985 after a bacterial contamination.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [usda-hb54] Sanders G.P. 1953, Cheese varieties and descriptions, USDA Agriculture Handbook 54 (Liederkranz)archive
  2. [usda-608] Doane C.F., Lawson H.W., revised by Matheson K.J. 1928, Varieties of cheese, descriptions and analyses, USDA Bulletin 608 (Liederkranz, made at Van Wert, Ohio, ripened by red slime)archive
  3. [monroe-hs] Monroe Historical Society, The history of cheese making in Monroeweb
  4. [wp] Wikipedia, Liederkranz cheese (history outline only)wiki