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Cheese from Italy, Campania

Stracchino di bufala

Pasteurised or thermised buffalo milk is soured with a Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus culture and set with calf rennet at about 38 °C. The curd is cut, left under the whey until it is acid enough, put into square bottomless hoops and kept warm for about 3 hours, then brined 2–3 hours and ripened cold for 7–10 days.

Fully documentedCheese7.3 days – 10 daysTraditional food product (PAT, Campania)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceDoses from the ONAF sheet, per hectolitre of milk; the Campania sheet gives none. A cheese weighs 2–2.5 kg in the Campania sheet and 1.0–2.0 kg in the ONAF sheet.
Whole buffalo milk from one morning milking, pasteurised or thermised[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Whey culture (sieroinnesto) of Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus2–3% of the milk volume[onaf-sheet]
Liquid calf rennet, strength about 1:10,00060 ml per hl of milk[onaf-sheet]
Salt (saturated brine)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
StarterStreptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus culture, 2–3% at 40–42 °C

Total time across the recorded steps: 7.3 days – 10 days

Start
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70–72 °C

What changes: The buffalo milk is pasteurised at 70–72 °C

Step 1 of 7
Pasteurise the milk
Time
0.5–0.7 min
Reported
Temperature
70–72 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
S. thermophilus
L. delbrueckii
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

Pasteurised or thermised buffalo milk is soured with a Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus bulgaricus culture and set with calf rennet at about 38 °C. The curd is cut, left under the whey until it is acid enough, put into square bottomless hoops and kept warm for about 3 hours, then brined 2–3 hours and ripened cold for 7–10 days. Made in 7 steps over 7.3 days – 10 days. The longest step, ripen cold, takes 7–10 days (Regione Campania 2019) and runs at 4–8 °C (Regione Campania 2019). Streptococcus thermophilus and Lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step7–10 daysReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen cold
Temperature4–8 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen cold

What makes this one different

Lombard-style square soft cheese made from buffalo milk since the early 1980s, using winter buffalo milk. It uses a thermophilic culture and a warm draining like a stracchino, not the stretching of mozzarella.

Rind
Absent or very thin, white
Size
Square with 15 cm sides, 7–8 cm high, 2–2.5 kg (Campania); ONAF gives 4–8 cm and 1.0–2.0 kg

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised or thermised, and the cheese is ripened at 8 °C or colder. ONAF gives storage at 15 °C or less for under a month. It ties that limit to quality. After it the cheese dries out and turns unpleasantly sour. It does not call it a safety limit. The CDC says people at higher risk, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid unheated queso fresco-type cheeses and similar fresh, soft cheeses, even when made with pasteurised milk. It does not name this cheese, and it lists cream cheese and mozzarella made with pasteurised milk among safer choices.

History and sources

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

The Campania sheet says this and buffalo mascarpone were the first cheeses other than pasta filata and ricotta made from buffalo milk alone in southern Italy, in the early 1980s, to use winter milk that was otherwise frozen or sold cheaply.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione Campania, Assessorato agricoltura, Prodotti tradizionali, page 'Stracchino di bufala' (updated 13 March 2019; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Stracchino di bufala'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Stracchino di bufala' (id 1194)web
  4. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov