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

Schnittkäse Pragser Stange (Formaggio da taglio Braies Stanga)Pragser Stange

Local cow milk, skimmed to 3.0–4.0% fat and pasteurised, is set with lactic cultures and rennet at 35–37 °C. The curd is cut, sometimes washed with hot water, optionally semi-cooked at 39–40 °C, moulded without pressing and brined. The wheels ripen 30–100 days while the rind is washed every two days with water, salt and, where used, Brevibacterium linens and yeasts.

Fully documentedCheese30 days – 3.3 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Autonomous Province of Bolzano, 21st national list, 2021)Family: Washed-rind (smear-ripened) cheese family (Munster and Époisses as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedMade in dairies; the sheets give no amounts or batch size. A whole cheese weighs 3.5–5.0 kg.
Local cow milk, skimmed to 3.0–4.0% fat and pasteurised[pat-sheet]
Lactic acid bacteria (starter cultures)[pat-sheet]
Calf rennet, liquid or powder[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt, as brine[pat-sheet]
Brevibacterium linens and yeasts for the rind[pat-sheet]
Polymer coating (optional)[pat-sheet]
Starterlactic starter cultures; Brevibacterium linens and yeasts on the rind

Total time across the recorded steps: 30 days – 3.3 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: The skimmed mountain milk is pasteurised

Step 1 of 7
Skim and pasteurise the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Brevibacterium linens
Yeasts

The milk is pasteurised.

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

Local cow milk, skimmed to 3.0–4.0% fat and pasteurised, is set with lactic cultures and rennet at 35–37 °C. The curd is cut, sometimes washed with hot water, optionally semi-cooked at 39–40 °C, moulded without pressing and brined. The wheels ripen 30–100 days while the rind is washed every two days with water, salt and, where used, Brevibacterium linens and yeasts. Made in 7 steps over 30 days – 3.3 months. The longest step, ripen with a washed rind, takes 30 days – 3.3 months (Autonomous Province of Bolzano). Lactic acid bacteria and Brevibacterium linens do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30 days – 3.3 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen with a washed rind
Temperature35–37 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Add cultures and rennet

What makes this one different

Shaped as a long bar ("Stange") instead of a wheel, which makes regular slices easy to cut. It comes from the Braies valley and tastes of milk and cream.

Rind
Compact, very soft, light yellow; not edible
Size
Bar 30 x 10 x 10 cm, 3.5–5.0 kg
Eyes
Small, fairly regular eyes
Fat
Full-fat or semi-fat
Season
Made all year

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised and the wheels ripen at least 30 days in cool, humid rooms. The provincial form asks for no hygiene exemption.

History and sources

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

The provincial form ties it to a long run of cheesemaking in Val Pusteria, especially at the Brunico dairy. ONAF gives several reasons for the bar shape. The bars stack for transport and cut into regular slices with little waste. Some say tourism shaped it, because it gives a perfect slice for walkers' sandwiches. It entered the national PAT list in its 21st update, in March 2021.

  1. [pat-sheet] Autonomous Province of Bolzano, product identification form (art. 8 D.lgs. 173/98), 'Schnittkäse Pragser Stange / Formaggio da taglio Braies Stanga', bilingual German and Italiangov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Schnittkäse Pragser Stange'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Schnittkäse Pragser Stange' (id 1294)web