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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Carpathian Mountains

Bryndza (Slovak / Podhale)Slovenská bryndza

Raw ewe milk is renneted at the mountain hut and the curd is pressed into a lump (hrudka). The lump drains and ripens for about two weeks while lactic bacteria and yeasts work on it. A bryndza dairy then cuts off the rind, presses out whey, and mills the lump with salt into a soft, spreadable cheese. Made in 5 steps over 11 days – 14 days. The longest step, ripen the lump, takes 10–13 days (Štefániková J 2020) and runs at 12–22 °C (Štefániková J 2020). Salt is 4–6 % (Štefániková J 2020). Lactococcus lactis and Lacticaseibacillus paracasei do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step10–13 daysReported[stefanikova2020]Ripen the lump
Temperature12–22 °CReported[stefanikova2020]Ripen the lump
Salt4–6 %Reported[stefanikova2020]Mill with salt
AciditypH 5.1–5.3Measured[stefanikova2020]Mill with salt

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceShepherd and dairy practice with no fixed batch size. In 1928 a lot was 2 to 4 gallons of fresh milk at a time.
Ewe-milk lump cheese (hrudka) · 100 % ewe lump cheese, or mixed with up to 50 % cow lump cheese[kacaniova2021]
Rennet · Chymosin or a chymosin-identical rennet in one description[stefanikova2020]
4–6 % (w/w) salt solutionSalt · Milled into the ripened lump[stefanikova2020]
Starterspontaneous; raw-milk lactic bacteria and yeasts

Total time across the recorded steps: 11 days – 14 days

Start
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29–31 °Cshapes, not to countLactococcus lactisL. paracaseiEnterococcus faeciumGeotrichum candidum

What changes: Rennet goes into raw ewe milk at the hut and it sets in half an hour

Step 1 of 5
Rennet raw ewe milk at the hut
Time
30 min
Reported
Temperature
29–31 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
L. paracasei
Enterococcus faecium
Geotrichum candidum
Lactic acid bacteria

The milk is renneted straight after milking. A 1928 USDA description gives 75° to 85° F and a set in 15 minutes. Output: curd.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

raw-milk flora

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

Bryndza is a cheese made twice. The ewe-milk lump ripens first as a whole cheese, and only then is it stripped of rind, milled and salted into a spread. Romanian brânză de burduf is kneaded and packed into a sheep stomach or bark instead.

Related ferments

Variants

  • Slovenská bryndza PGIThe Slovak protected form, made in defined mountain regions.
  • Bryndza Podhalańska PDOThe Polish Podhale form, from Polish Mountain sheep milk with some cow milk.
  • Brânză de burduf (Romania)Kneaded cheese packed into sheep stomach (burduf) or fir-bark cylinders.
  • Brynza (Russia and Ukraine)A brined white cheese, made differently.

Made the bryndza way

Safety

Made from raw ewe milk, and unpasteurized bryndza can carry high coliform counts. One study found pasteurized-milk bryndza below 1 log CFU/g.

Hazards the sources name: Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus among isolates from summer bryndza; Coliforms at 3.46–6.78 log CFU/g in bryndza from unpasteurized milk.

History and sources

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

A 1928 USDA bulletin describes Brinsen made in the Carpathian Mountains from sheep milk and packed in tubs with beech shavings.

  1. [stefanikova2020] Štefániková J., Ducková V., Miškeje M., Kačániová M., Čanigová M. 2020, The impact of different factors on the quality and volatile organic compounds profile in "bryndza" cheese, Foods 9(9):1195paper
  2. [kacaniova2021] Kačániová M., Terentjeva M., Kunová S. et al. 2021, Diversity of microbiota in Slovak summer ewes' cheese "Bryndza", Open Life Sciences 16:277–286paper
  3. [usda1928] Doane C.F., Lawson H.W., revised by Matheson K.J. 1928, Varieties of cheese, descriptions and analyses, USDA Bulletin 608 (entry "Brinsen or Brinza")archive