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Cheese from France, Jura massif

Morbier

Raw cow milk is warmed to no more than 34 °C and set with rennet, and the curd is shaped into two blocks with a thin layer of vegetable charcoal smeared between them before pressing. The salted wheel ripens on spruce boards at 7–15 °C for at least 45 days while its rind is rubbed with water and ferments.

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification sets the starter and water shares and no other amounts.
Raw cow milkFrom no more than two successive milkings; may be partly skimmed[morbier-cdc]
RennetThe only coagulant allowed[morbier-cdc]
Selected lactic culturesSub-cultured or added directly; a starter grown on reconstituted milk is limited to 3 % of the milk[morbier-cdc]
WaterAt least 6 % of the milk volumeAdded at the start of the make to wash out lactose[morbier-cdc]
Vegetable charcoal (carbo medicinalis vegetalis)For the black line[morbier-cdc]
SaltDry or in brine[morbier-cdc]
Starterselected lactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 45 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to 18 °C

What changes: Starting material: raw cow milk from Montbéliarde or Simmental herds

Step 1 of 6
Collect raw milk and keep it cool
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to 18 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: raw milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
white

Microbes at work in this step

raw-milk flora

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

Raw cow milk is warmed to no more than 34 °C and set with rennet, and the curd is shaped into two blocks with a thin layer of vegetable charcoal smeared between them before pressing. The salted wheel ripens on spruce boards at 7–15 °C for at least 45 days while its rind is rubbed with water and ferments. Made in 6 steps over 45 days. The longest step, ripen on spruce boards, rubbing the rind, takes at least 45 days (Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine…) and runs at 7–15 °C (Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine…).

Key numbers
Main stepat least 45 daysSet[morbier-cdc]Ripen on spruce boards, rubbing the rind
Temperature7–15 °CSet[morbier-cdc]Ripen on spruce boards, rubbing the rind
AciditypH up to 5.4Set[morbier-cdc]Smear charcoal between two curd blocks and press

What makes this one different

Morbier's black line is vegetable charcoal smeared by hand between two blocks of curd before pressing, where other pressed cheeses have a plain paste. The milk is raw, the vat never goes above 45 °C, and the wheel ripens at least 45 days on spruce boards with a rubbed rind.

Milk
Raw cow milk from Montbéliarde or French Simmental herds
Ripening
At least 45 days at 7–15 °C on spruce boards
Size
30–40 cm across, 5–8 cm high, 5–8 kg; at least 45 g fat per 100 g dry matter

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw. ANSES, the French food safety agency, names short-ripened pressed uncooked raw-milk cheeses, Morbier among them, as a main source of the bacterial hazards in raw-milk cheese. It says Listeria and enterohaemorrhagic E. coli can kill. It advises pregnant women, people with weak immunity, people over 65 and young children to avoid raw-milk cheeses, except cooked pressed ones such as Gruyère or Comté.

Hazards the sources name: Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin, isolated from Morbier cheese.

History and sources

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

The specification says farms once made Morbier from two successive milkings; the first curd was coated with soot from under the kettle to protect it until the second was added, which left the line. It was registered as a PDO by Commission Regulation (EC) No 1241/2002 of 10 July 2002. In 2013, 9,700 tonnes were made, more than double the amount thirteen years earlier.

  1. [morbier-cdc] Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine « Morbier », approved by the INAO national committee on 19 Nov 2025 and homologated by order of 18 Dec 2025 (JORF 7 Jan 2026)spec
  2. [cadelsix2019] Cadel-Six S., Vignaud M.L., Mohammed M. 2019, Draft genome sequences of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Dublin strains from St. Nectaire and Morbier cheeses, Microbiology Resource Announcements 8(1):e01361-18, doi:10.1128/MRA.01361-18paper
  3. [draaf-fiche] DRAAF Bourgogne-Franche-Comté and Agreste, Fiche AOP Morbier (La filière lait en Franche-Comté, edition 2014, no. 201)gov
  4. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov