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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Germany and Austria

Butterkäse

Butterkäse is a mild, semi-soft cow-milk cheese with no butter in it; the name describes its soft, buttery paste. The curd is set with rennet and a mesophilic starter, cut small, washed hard with warm water and lightly warmed, then pressed and brined. It ripens at about 10 °C, usually in foil or wax, and is sold young. Made in 7 steps over 3.5 days – 4.5 days. The longest step, brine, takes 3–4 days (Fliegel J. 2009). Salt is 3.7 % (Fliegel J. 2009). Mesophilic lactic acid bacteria from the starter culture does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step3–4 daysReported[fliegel2009]Brine
Temperature65 °CReported[fliegel2009]Thermise, standardise and pre-ripen the milk
Salt3.7 %Reported[fliegel2009]Brine
AciditypH 5.7–5.9Reported[fliegel2009]Mould and press
Fully documentedCheese3.5 days – 4.5 daysStandard cheese variety (Käsestandardsorte) in German law (MilchPQV, Anlage 4); Austrian Food Codex chapter B 32Family: Washed-curd cheese family (Gouda as template)More washed-curd cheesesMore from GermanyMore from Austria

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo published recipe gives amounts per litre. The numbers below come from one large German plant making 15 kg foil-ripened blocks of Butterkäse with 45 % fat in dry matter (Fliegel 2009), checked against the legal descriptions in Germany and Austria.
Cow milk · Standardised for fat and protein; one German plant adds skim-milk concentrate and milk protein concentrate[fliegel2009]
Mesophilic acidifying culture · Chosen to make acid in the vat with little aroma or gas later[fliegel2009]
Calcium chloride (34 % solution), rennet, and sometimes beta-carotene for colour · Added in the vat according to each recipe[fliegel2009]
Warm water · Replaces part of the whey to wash the curd[fliegel2009][codex-at-b32]
Salt · Taken up in a brine bath[fliegel2009]
Starter: mesophilic lactic acidifying culture; rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.5 days – 4.5 days

Start
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65 °C

What changes: The milk is heated gently, cooled, standardised and left to pre-ripen

Step 1 of 7
Thermise, standardise and pre-ripen the milk
Time
10 h
Reported
Temperature
65 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Fat is set to the protein content; spore-forming bacteria are removed by bactofugation. Output: standardised cheese milk, briefly pasteurised before use.

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

Butterkäse is a washed-curd cheese like Gouda, but its curd is washed more and pressed into a softer, moister cheese that is sold young. Its starter is chosen to make acid without the gas and aroma that give Gouda its holes and depth.

Legal group
Germany lists Butterkäse as a semi-firm sliceable cheese (halbfester Schnittkäse), with 61–69 % water in the fat-free cheese for the group
Dry matter (Germany)
At least 48, 50 or 55 % dry matter at the full-fat, cream and double-cream fat levels
Fat and water (Austria)
45 % fat in dry matter as the reference, with at most 54 % water; 50 % fat allows 52 % water and 55 % fat allows 50 %
Size
Germany allows 250 g to 20 kg. Austria describes loaves up to about 1.5 kg, bars up to about 2 kg and blocks up to about 16 kg
Ripening
No legal minimum age in Germany; ripened at about 10 °C in Austria

Related ferments

Variants

  • Algunder and Innichner Butterkäse (South Tyrol)Local farm and dairy cheeses that use the name; Algunder is semi-cooked and ripened at least 60 days, so it differs from German Butterkäse.

Safety

Industrial Butterkäse is made from thermised and then pasteurised milk, and bactofugation removes spore-forming bacteria that spoil cheese.

History and sources

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

German food law listed Butterkäse as a standard cheese variety in the Käseverordnung (Anlage 1). That ordinance lapsed on 14 June 2026, and the list now sits in the Milchproduktqualitätsverordnung with the same dry-matter and weight rules.

  1. [milchpqv] Milchproduktqualitätsverordnung (MilchPQV) of 24 November 2025 (BGBl. 2025 I Nr. 280), § 32 and Anlage 4, section A (Butterkäse), in force from 14 June 2026spec
  2. [kasev] Käseverordnung (KäseV), Anlage 1, standard varieties (version in force until 14 June 2026)spec
  3. [codex-at-b32] Österreichisches Lebensmittelbuch (Austrian Food Codex), chapter B 32, 3.2.1.2.3.3 Butterkäsespec
  4. [fliegel2009] Fliegel J. 2009, Optimierung der Schnittkäseproduktion durch Verringerung von Inhaltsstoffschwankungen im Käse, Diplomarbeit, Hochschule Neubrandenburg (study at the Humana cheese plant in Altentreptow)paper