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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Switzerland, Graubünden

Bündner Bergkäse

Bündner Bergkäse is a full-fat semi-hard cow cheese made all year in Graubünden village dairies from thermised mountain milk. The milk is set with rennet at about 32 °C, the curd is cut small, cooked to 41–47 °C, pressed for a day and brined for a day. It ripens at least three months at no more than 18 °C, brushed with salt water so a reddish-brown smear rind forms. Made in 7 steps over 3.1 months. The longest step, ripen, brushed with salt water, takes at least 3 months (Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz / Patrimoine c…) and runs at up to 18 °C (Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz / Patrimoine c…). Added lactic acid bacteria cultures and part of the natural milk flora does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsReported[patrimoine-ch]Ripen, brushed with salt water
Temperatureup to 18 °CReported[patrimoine-ch]Ripen, brushed with salt water
Fully documentedCheese3.1 monthsnone (Swiss "Berg" label rules apply; 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 recordedVillage-dairy cheese with no fixed batch size. Each loaf weighs about 4.5 kg and is about 27 cm across.
Mountain cow milk · Thermised briefly at 68 °C, which keeps part of the milk's own flora; from farms in the mountain area[patrimoine-ch][balv]
Lactic acid bacteria cultures[patrimoine-ch]
Rennet[patrimoine-ch]
Salt and water · For the brine bath and the rind brushing[patrimoine-ch]
Starter: lactic acid bacteria cultures, plus the flora that survives thermising

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.1 months

Start
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68 °C

What changes: Mountain milk is warmed briefly to 68 °C to thin out unwanted bacteria

Step 1 of 7
Thermise the mountain milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
68 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

The heat kills unwanted bacteria but keeps part of the natural flora that adds flavour.

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

Bündner Bergkäse is the valley-dairy cheese of Graubünden, made all year from thermised milk, while Bündner Alpkäse is made only in summer on the alps. It is cooked to 41–47 °C, below the temperatures of hard cheeses such as Emmentaler or Sbrinz, so it stays semi-hard.

Size
About 4.5 kg; about 27 cm across
Label rules
"Berg" products must come from, and be made in, the Swiss mountain or summer-grazing area; cheese may ripen outside it

Related ferments

Variants

  • Vollfett (full fat)Thermised milk; ripened at least three months
  • Halbfett (25% fat in dry matter)Pasteurised milk; ready after 4–6 weeks
  • Viertelfett (15% fat in dry matter)Pasteurised milk; ready after 4–6 weeks

Safety

The milk is thermised at 68 °C, not pasteurised, for the full-fat cheese; the half- and quarter-fat versions use pasteurised 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

An 1838 survey of Graubünden calls dairying minor in the canton; the first village dairy opened at Seewis in 1842. Cheese courses, a dairy advisory office in the 1920s and silage-free semi-hard cheese making in the 1950s led to the name Bündner Bergkäse. About 540 tonnes are made a year.

  1. [patrimoine-ch] Kulinarisches Erbe der Schweiz / Patrimoine culinaire suisse, national inventory entry 'Bündner Bergkäse', no. 439 (Graubünden)archive
  2. [balv] Swiss Federal Council, Verordnung über die Verwendung der Bezeichnungen «Berg» und «Alp» für landwirtschaftliche Erzeugnisse und daraus hergestellte Lebensmittel (Berg- und Alp-Verordnung), SR 910.19, consolidated to 1 January 2021gov