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Cheese from Italy, Veneto

Formaggio ValmorelFormai de Valmorel

Raw milk from the members' evening and morning milkings is kept at 9–12 °C, skimmed by natural creaming, and soured with a farm milk starter grown at about 32 °C before calf rennet goes in. The curd is cut with a lira, broken with a tarello and semi-cooked at about 40 °C, then pressed in hoops that print the name, brined about 48 hours and ripened about 2 months in the dairy before the members finish it in their own cellars.

Fully documentedCheese2.1 monthsPAT (traditional agri-food product, Veneto)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe sheets give the method, not a batch size or doses. A cheese weighs 3–4 kg.
Raw fresh cow milk from the members' two daily milkings, part-skimmed by natural creaming or whole[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Milk starter (latte innesto), made by fermenting a little milk after a quick pasteurisation[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Natural calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Salt (brine)[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]
Starterfarm milk starter (latte innesto) fermented at about 32 °C after a quick pasteurisation

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months

Start
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9–12 °C

What changes: Starting material: raw milk of two milkings, kept at 9–12 °C

Step 1 of 8
Collect and cool the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
9–12 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
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

Raw milk from the members' evening and morning milkings is kept at 9–12 °C, skimmed by natural creaming, and soured with a farm milk starter grown at about 32 °C before calf rennet goes in. The curd is cut with a lira, broken with a tarello and semi-cooked at about 40 °C, then pressed in hoops that print the name, brined about 48 hours and ripened about 2 months in the dairy before the members finish it in their own cellars. Made in 8 steps over 2.1 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 2 months (Regione del Veneto). Lactic bacteria of the farm milk starter and the raw milk does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2 monthsReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature9–12 °CReported[pat-sheet][onaf-sheet]Collect and cool the milk

What makes this one different

A cooperative raw-milk cheese of a Belluno valley at 800 m, made with the dairy's own milk starter and finished in members' cellars. Its taste is said to change from day to day with feed, season and weather.

Size
3–4 kg; size otherwise variable
Rind
Clean; white to deep straw yellow, soft to hard with age

Related ferments

Variants

  • fresco
  • mezzano
  • stagionato

Safety

Made from raw milk kept at 9–12 °C. The curd is semi-cooked at about 40 °C and brined about 48 hours, and the cheeses ripen about 2 months in the dairy. The US FDA says ageing raw-milk cheese for 60 days may not eliminate or adequately reduce E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, and Listeria may grow in some cheeses during ageing. The CDC says people at higher risk, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid raw-milk cheese unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

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

The cheese takes its name from the valley of Valmorel, in Limana, where it has been made since the Latteria sociale turnaria was founded in 1939.

  1. [pat-sheet] Regione del Veneto, Atlante dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali del Veneto, 'Formaggio Valmorel' (p. 166; copy hosted by ONAF)gov
  2. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (Organizzazione Nazionale Assaggiatori Formaggi), technical sheet 'Formaggio Valmorel'web
  3. [onaf] ONAF, cheese page 'Formaggio Valmorel' (id 1089)web
  4. [fda-rawcheese2016] US Food and Drug Administration 2016, FY 2014–2016 Microbiological Sampling Assignment Summary Report, Raw Milk Cheese Aged 60 Daysgov
  5. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov