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Cheese from Denmark

Maribo

A Danish semi-hard cow milk cheese set with rennet and a lactic starter. The cut curd is warmed lightly, stirred and partly salted in the vat, pressed in moulds and usually brined. It ripens humid to dry at 10–20 °C, often with a washed rind, and is not usually sold before six weeks.

Fully documentedCheese44 daysCodex individual standard (CODEX STAN C-24-1971), adopted in El Salvador as NSR 67.00.216:99; cheese type no. 23 in the Danish dairy-products orderFamily: Washed-curd cheese family (Gouda as template)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe standard sets limits for optional additions, not a recipe. Flat cylinders weigh about 14 kg; square or rectangular blocks about 9 kg or more.
Cow milk[fao]
Cultures of harmless lactic acid bacteria[fao]
Rennet or other suitable coagulating enzymes[fao]
Salt (sodium chloride)[fao]
Calcium chloride (optional)at most 200 mg/kg of milk[fao]
Sodium or potassium nitrate (optional)at most 50 mg/kg of cheese[fao]
Annatto and beta-carotene, alone or mixed (optional)at most 600 mg/kg of cheese[fao]
Water and cumin seeds (optional)[fao]
Startercultures of harmless lactic acid bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 44 days

Start
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What changes: Lactic starter and rennet go into the cow milk

Step 1 of 6
Add starter and rennet
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

A lactic starter and rennet or another suitable coagulating enzyme go into the cow 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

A Danish semi-hard cow milk cheese set with rennet and a lactic starter. The cut curd is warmed lightly, stirred and partly salted in the vat, pressed in moulds and usually brined. It ripens humid to dry at 10–20 °C, often with a washed rind, and is not usually sold before six weeks. Made in 6 steps over 44 days. The longest step, ripen, takes at least 42 days (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CON…) and runs at 10–20 °C (Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CON…).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 42 daysSet[fao]Ripen
Temperature10–20 °CSet[fao]Ripen

What makes this one different

A Danish semi-hard cheese with many irregular eyes; the curd is lightly warmed, stirred and partly salted in the vat before pressing.

Composition
Maribo at least 45 % fat in dry matter, at most 43 % moisture, at least 57 % dry matter; Maribo 30 % at least 30 % fat in dry matter, at most 49 % moisture
Rind
Semi-hard to hard, dry, may be waxed or plastic-coated; square blocks are also made rindless
Size
Flat cylinder about 14 kg; flat square or rectangle about 30 cm side, about 10 cm high, about 9 kg or more
Danish order
The Danish dairy-products order of 2023 lists Maribo as a matured firm cheese of cow milk with at least 20 % fat in dry matter. With a rind it ripens at least 3 weeks, as smear ripening of at least 1–2 weeks followed by ripening of at least 1–3 weeks; rindless cheese ripens at least 3 weeks

Related ferments

Variants

  • with cumin seedCumin must be named as part of the cheese's name.
  • Maribo 30 %At least 30 % fat in dry matter and at most 49 % moisture.

Safety

The standard allows added nitrate only up to 50 mg/kg of cheese and calcium chloride up to 200 mg/kg of milk, and the cheese is not usually sold before six weeks. It does not say whether the milk is pasteurised and gives no pH or salt limit.

History and sources

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

The Codex individual standard for Maribo, C-24, dates from 1971, and El Salvador adopted it as a national standard in 1999–2000. The Danish dairy-products order of 2023 lists Maribo as cheese type no. 23 in its register of cheese characteristics.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [fao] Consejo Nacional de Ciencia y Tecnología (CONACYT), Norma Salvadoreña Recomendada NSR 67.00.216:99 'Norma para el queso Maribo', an adoption of CODEX STAN C-24-1971 (Acuerdo No. 693, 4 September 2000; FAOLEX copy)spec
  2. [kim2014] Kim HY, Jeong YT, Bae IH, Kwak HS (2014). Physicochemical and sensory properties of nanopowdered chitosan-added Maribo cheese during ripening. Korean Journal for Food Science of Animal Resources 34(1):57–64paper
  3. [dk-bek-195] Denmark, Bekendtgørelse om mælkeprodukter m.v., BEK nr 195 of 27 February 2023, Lovtidende A, Bilag 4 (cheese characteristics), no. 23 Maribospec