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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Russia, Ukraine and Moldova

Brynza (Russia, Ukraine, Moldova)брынза

Brynza is a white, rindless brined cheese made from cow, sheep or goat milk set with a lactic starter and rennet. The curd is drained, pressed, cut into blocks and kept in brine, and the standard lets it be sold from 5 days old with 2–4 % salt. Unlike Carpathian bryndza, it is not ground or packed in tubs. Made in 7 steps over 35 days – 2.6 months. The longest step, keep cold, takes 30 days – 2.5 months (GOST 33959-2016) and runs at -4–6 °C (GOST 33959-2016). Salt is 2–4 % (GOST 33959-2016). Lactic acid bacteria starter does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step30 days – 2.5 monthsSet[gost33959]Keep cold
Temperature-4–6 °CSet[gost33959]Keep cold
Salt2–4 %Set[gost33959]Salt and ripen in brine
Fully documentedCheese35 days – 2.6 monthsInterstate standard GOST 33959-2016 "Brined cheeses" (replaced GOST R 53421-2009 in 2017)Family: White brined cheese family (Feta PDO as template)More white brined cheesesMore from RussiaMore from Ukraine

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe standard sets the finished cheese, not a recipe or amounts. The process numbers below come from one published Ukrainian method for low-salt sheep brynza.
Cow, sheep or goat milk · The standard covers all three; its example label lists pasteurised milk[gost33959][gostr53421]
Lactic acid bacteria starter · Mesophilic lactic bacteria in the standard's example label[gost33959][gostr53421]
Milk-clotting enzyme of animal or microbial origin[gost33959]
Calcium chloride · A permitted processing aid[gost33959]
Salt · Non-iodised food salt; 2.0–4.0 % in the finished cheese[gost33959]
Starter: lactic acid bacteria starter, plus rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 35 days – 2.6 months

Start
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75 °C

What changes: The milk is heated to pasteurise it, then cooled with running water

Step 1 of 7
Pasteurise the milk
Time
15 min
Reported
Temperature
75 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

In that method 1–1.5 % salt (by milk volume) went into the milk before setting.

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

Eastern Slavic brynza is a white brined cheese like feta or telemea, sold as rindless blocks from brine. Carpathian bryndza (Slovak, Polish) is a different cheese, a soured sheep curd ground with salt into a spread.

Milk
Cow, sheep or goat milk; the standard lists all three
Ripening
Released for sale at not less than 5 days old
Composition
Moisture at most 55 %; fat in dry matter at least 40 % or 45 % (two grades); salt 2.0–4.0 %
Shape
Square-based block 10–11 cm across, 7–9 cm high, 1.0–1.5 kg; or a small cylinder of 0.5–0.6 kg

Related ferments

Variants

  • Low-salt express brynza (Ukraine)Sheep milk pasteurised at 75 °C, pressed and cut the same day and eaten without the usual two weeks in brine.

Safety

The standard sets storage at 0–6 °C (or −4 to 0 °C) and a shelf life of 75 days in brine or 30 days in film. Its example label lists pasteurised milk.

History and sources

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

Brynza appears in Russian and interstate standards for brined cheeses beside Ossetian, Georgian and Imeretian cheeses. GOST R 53421-2009 was replaced on 1 September 2017 by the interstate standard GOST 33959-2016, which keeps the same limits for brynza.

  1. [gost33959] GOST 33959-2016, Interstate standard "Сыры рассольные. Технические условия" (Brined cheeses. Specifications), in force from 1 September 2017 (text on meganorm.ru)spec
  2. [gostr53421] GOST R 53421-2009, National standard of the Russian Federation "Сыры рассольные. Технические условия" (withdrawn 1 September 2017; text on meganorm.ru)spec
  3. [nechmilov2000] Nechmilov V.M. 2000, Нова технологія виготовлення малосільної бринзи (A new technology for making low-salt brynza), Tavriiskyi Naukovyi Visnyk 16:104–106 (Institute of Animal Husbandry, UAAN)paper