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Cheese from Russia, North Caucasus

Adyghe cheese (adygeysky syr)адыгейский сыр

A boundary entry. Pasteurised, standardised cow milk is heated to 93–95 °C and curdled by stirring in 8–10 % of whey whose acidity is 85–150 °T; the whey is stored until its acidity rises, so the souring happens in the whey, not in the cheese. The curd is held up to 5 minutes, self-pressed in wicker baskets for 10–15 minutes, salted for 16–18 hours and ripened for 3 days.

Fully documentedCheese3.7 days – 3.8 daysFamily: Acid-heat set cheese family (FERMENTATION BOUNDARY)

Recipe

Adyghe cheese (adygeysky syr), a photo from Wikimedia Commons
Photo: Tetk200, CC BY-SA 3.0, via Wikimedia Commons
Amounts from a sourceAmounts are from the technological instruction for Adyghe cheese (to TU 10.02.847-90) as quoted in a 1999 patent.
Pasteurised cow milk, standardised for fat[ru2125373]
Soured milk whey, acidity 85–150 °T8–10 % of the milk[ru2125373]
Saltno more than 2 % in the finished cheese[ru2125373]
Calcium chloride[dunchenko2023]
Culture of Bulgarian bacillus or Lactobacillus helveticusup to 1 % of the whey (optional)Speeds up the souring of the whey[yarosh2024]
Starterwhey stored until its acidity rises (85–150 °T in the patent's account of the instruction, 85–350 °T in a 2024 article); that article says up to 1 % of a Bulgarian-bacillus or L. helveticus culture, or citric acid, can speed this up

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.7 days – 3.8 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countBacillusLactobacillus helveticusMilk sugarLactic acid

What changes: Filtered whey is stored until its acidity rises

Step 1 of 6
Sour the whey
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Bacillus
Lactobacillus helveticus

Fresh, filtered whey is stored until its acidity rises. A 2024 article says a culture or citric acid can speed this up.

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 boundary entry. Pasteurised, standardised cow milk is heated to 93–95 °C and curdled by stirring in 8–10 % of whey whose acidity is 85–150 °T; the whey is stored until its acidity rises, so the souring happens in the whey, not in the cheese. The curd is held up to 5 minutes, self-pressed in wicker baskets for 10–15 minutes, salted for 16–18 hours and ripened for 3 days. Made in 6 steps over 3.7 days – 3.8 days. The longest step, store cold, takes 3 days (Klassen N.V 1999) and runs at 2–6 °C (Dunchenko N 2023). Bulgarian bacillus and Lactobacillus helveticus cultures, which a 2024 article says can be added at up to 1 % to speed the souring of the stored whey does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3 daysReported[ru2125373]Store cold
Temperature2–6 °CReported[dunchenko2023]Store cold

What makes this one different

Curdled by heat plus acidified whey, with no rennet in the instruction, and self-pressed in wicker baskets rather than in a press.

Yield
11.1–14.4 % of the milk's weight by the traditional method
Standard
Made under GOST 32263-2013 'Soft cheeses. Specifications' in the 2023 trial

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised and heated again to 93–95 °C. A 2024 article says the plant keeps the cheese no more than 3 days after making, and lists 4 ± 2 °C as its temperature when it leaves the plant.

History and sources

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

History
The sources we found do not record its history.
  1. [ru2125373] Klassen N.V., Kim G.N., Kim I.N. (Far Eastern State Technical Fisheries University), patent RU 2125373 C1 'Method of producing soft cheese', published 27.01.1999, describing the known Adyghe cheese method of the technological instruction to TU 10.02.847-90other
  2. [dunchenko2023] Dunchenko N., Krasulya O., Voloshina E., Kuptsova S., Mikhailova K., Odintsova A. et al. 2023, Influence of acoustic cavitation on physico-chemical, organoleptic indicators and microstructure of Adyghe cheese produced from cow and goat milk, Ultrasonics Sonochemistry 98:106493, doi:10.1016/j.ultsonch.2023.106493paper
  3. [yarosh2024] Yarosh O.I., Neverova O.P. 2024, Tekhnologiya proizvodstva adygeyskogo syra (The technology of production of Adyghe cheese), Ural State Agrarian University, Yekaterinburgpaper
  4. [wp-circassian] Wikipedia, Circassian cheesewiki