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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Switzerland, Unterwalden

BratkäseBratchäs

Bratkäse is a small, full-fat semi-hard cow cheese from Obwalden and Nidwalden, made to be melted. In valley dairies the milk is pasteurised, set with rennet at 32 °C, cut and warmed to 37 °C, pressed into tubes and brined; on the alps it is made by hand from raw milk. It ripens 6–10 weeks with a salt-water smear, and was once softened at the fire and scraped, like a small raclette. Made in 7 steps over 43 days – 2.3 months. The longest step, ripen with a salt-water smear, takes 42 days – 2.3 months (Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz / Patrimoine c…) and runs at 13–14 °C (Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz / Patrimoine c…). The dairy's own lactic culture does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step42 days – 2.3 monthsReported[patrimoine-ch]Ripen with a salt-water smear
Temperature13–14 °CReported[patrimoine-ch]Ripen with a salt-water smear
Fully documentedCheese43 days – 2.3 monthsnone (listed in the Culinary Heritage of Switzerland inventory)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)More pressed uncooked cheesesMore from Switzerland

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedTraditional cheese with no fixed batch size; the valley dairy the inventory describes makes about 400 loaves a day, each 750–1,100 g.
Cow milk · Pasteurised at 76 °C in valley dairies; raw on the alps[patrimoine-ch]
The dairy's own lactic culture[patrimoine-ch]
Drinking water · Added to the milk to slow the souring[patrimoine-ch]
Rennet[patrimoine-ch]
Salt · As brine, and lightly salted water for the rind smear[patrimoine-ch]
Starter: the dairy's own lactic culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 43 days – 2.3 months

Start
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76 °C

What changes: Valley-dairy milk is heated briefly to 76 °C; on the alps it stays raw

Step 1 of 7
Pasteurise the milk (valley dairies)
Time
Not documented
Temperature
76 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

What makes this one different

Bratkäse is a small melting cheese of Unterwalden, ripened only 6–10 weeks where Valais raclette ripens 3–6 months. Valley dairies add water to the milk to slow its souring and let the pressed curd sour at 23 °C before brining.

Size
750–1,100 g; 13–15 cm diameter
Fat
Full fat

Related ferments

Variants

  • Valley-dairy BratkäsePasteurised milk, pressed in tubes by machine
  • Alp BratkäseRaw milk, made by hand on the summer alps, said to be fuller in taste

Safety

Valley-dairy Bratkäse is made from pasteurised milk; alp cheese is made from raw milk. No safety study of this cheese was found.

History and sources

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

The inventory cites a possible 12th–13th century record from Muri monastery of cheese melted at the fire in Unterwalden. An 1836 regional survey lists it among Unterwalden's specialities, and the Swiss German dictionary of 1895 defines it as a small fatty cheese softened at a coal fire. The name Heikuhkäsli is linked to cheese made in the valley from leftover milk.

  1. [patrimoine-ch] Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz / Patrimoine culinaire suisse, national inventory entry 'Bratkäse', no. 270 (Obwalden, Nidwalden)archive
  2. [nidwalden-unterstock] Nidwalden Tourismus, Alpine dairy Unterstock, Beckenried (Alpkäse, Bratkäse and Mutschli made from mid-June to mid-September)web