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Fermented milk from Chuvashia and Chuvash communities of Tatarstan

Turakh (Chuvash fermented baked milk)турах

Turakh is the national soured milk of the Chuvash. Whole milk is held near boiling for hours until it browns, cooled, and soured with lactic streptococci and Lactobacillus acidophilus; at home it is baked in a Russian stove and soured with old turakh.

A short entry: the sources we found record only what is said here about Turakh itself.

DocumentedFermented milk15 h – 18 h

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts come from an unsourced description of the factory method; home turakh has no fixed amounts.
Whole cow's milkAbout 4.0 % fat[wp-ru]
Starter of lactic streptococci and L. acidophilus (10:1)5 % of the milk weightOld turakh is used at home[wp-ru]
Starterback-slopped at home; lactic streptococci and L. acidophilus 10:1 in the factory method

Total time across the recorded steps: 15 h – 18 h

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countL. acidophilus95–98 °C

What changes: Hours near boiling turn the milk brown and give it a baked taste

Step 1 of 3
Heat the milk until it browns
Time
3–4 h
Reported
Temperature
95–98 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
L. acidophilus

Output: baked milk.

Flavour
baked, caramel
Texture
Not documented
Colour
browned

Microbes at work in this step

heat kills the milk's own bacteria

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

Turakh is the national soured milk of the Chuvash. Whole milk is held near boiling for hours until it browns, cooled, and soured with lactic streptococci and Lactobacillus acidophilus; at home it is baked in a Russian stove and soured with old turakh. Made in 3 steps over 15 h – 18 h. The longest step, ferment, takes 12–14 h (ru.wikipedia). Lactic streptococci and Lactobacillus acidophilus do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step12–14 hReported[wp-ru]Ferment
Temperature95–98 °CReported[wp-ru]Heat the milk until it browns

What makes this one different

Turakh is baked like ryazhenka but is soured with lactic streptococci and L. acidophilus, and the source says it is stretchier and more acidic than ryazhenka or varenets.

Related ferments

Variants

  • UiranTurakh diluted with spring water and salted.
  • Tatarstan Chuvash turakhThick and very sour, likened to Greek yoghurt, and keeps a long time.

Safety

The milk is held at 95–98 °C for hours before souring.

History and sources

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

  1. [wp-ru] ru.wikipedia, Турах (the process numbers are tagged "no reliable source" on the page)wiki