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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Spain, Asturias

Queso Casín PDOQueso Casín

Raw cow milk is set with calf rennet and starter at 30–35 °C, and the curd drains and sours on cloths for three days or more. The soured curd is then put through a roller kneading machine several times, with salt added on some passes, shaped by hand and stamped with the maker's wooden seal. It ripens at least 60 days into a dry, strong cheese with almost no rind. Made in 6 steps over 2.3 months – 2.6 months. The longest step, ripen in the cool room, takes at least 2 months (European Commission 2023) and runs at 6–12 °C (European Commission 2023). Lactococcus lactis and L. cremoris and Lactococcus garvieae do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[casin-oj2023]Ripen in the cool room
Temperature6–12 °CSet[casin-oj2023]Ripen in the cool room
AciditypH 6.3 → 4.71Measured[rodriguez2025]Drain and sour on cloths

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification gives temperatures and times but no amounts; rennet and starter are dosed "as needed" to set the curd. Cheeses weigh 150 g to 1 kg.
Raw whole cow milk · From the Casina, Asturiana de los Valles and Friesian breeds in the delimited area[casin-oj2010][casin-oj2023]
Lactic ferments (starter)[casin-oj2023]
Calf rennet or animal coagulant[casin-oj2023]
Salt · Added during some passes through the kneading machine; no amount is set[casin-pliego][casin-oj2023]
Calcium chloride (optional since 2023)[casin-oj2023]
Starter: added lactic ferments, on top of the raw-milk flora

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.3 months – 2.6 months

Start
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30–35 °C

What changes: Starter and calf rennet set the warm raw milk into a curd

Step 1 of 6
Set the raw milk
Time
45 min
Set
Temperature
30–35 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
Lactococcus garvieae
S. thermophilus

Output: curd.

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

Casín is kneaded, not pressed. After it sours, the curd is passed many times between rollers, so the inside and outside ripen together and there is hardly any rind. The specification calls it one of the driest, most protein-rich cheeses in Spain.

Milk
Raw whole cow milk from Casina, Asturiana de los Valles and Friesian cows in Caso, Sobrescobio and Piloña
Ripening
At least 60 days from the day of making
Composition
At least 57 % dry matter, 45 % fat and 35 % protein in dry matter
Size
Irregular disc up to 20 cm across and 7 cm high, 150 g to 1 kg (250 g to 1 kg before 2023)

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk and ripened at least 60 days. One study found high counts of hygiene indicator bacteria (Enterobacteriaceae, coliforms) in the young cheese; in two of three batches they fell below detection by day 15, and no Listeria DNA was found. Because the rind is so thin, the cheese must be packed where it is made or ripened.

Hazards the sources name: Enterobacteriaceae and coliforms (hygiene indicators; high counts early, gone by day 15 in two of three batches).

History and sources

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

Leases from 1328 and 1341 for land at Sobrecastiello were paid partly in "kneaded cheeses". Kneading was done by hand, then on a shared kneading table adapted from the bread kneader, on communal kneading days (diis d'amasar). Each family's lumps were marked with a small wooden tool (ochavau) and each finished cheese with a larger carved stamp (marcu). For years one woman was the only producer selling Casín at fairs.

  1. [casin-oj2010] European Commission 2010, Single document 'Queso Casín', ES-PDO-0005-0718, Official Journal of the European Union C 321, 26.11.2010, p. 13spec
  2. [casin-oj2023] European Commission 2023, Application for approval of an amendment to the product specification 'Queso Casín' (with consolidated single document), Official Journal of the European Union C 17, 18.1.2023, p. 12; approved in OJ L 116, 4.5.2023spec
  3. [casin-pliego] Principado de Asturias, Pliego de condiciones de la Denominación de Origen Protegida "Queso Casín" (version filed under Regulation (EC) No 510/2006)spec
  4. [alegria2009] Alegría A., Álvarez-Martín P., Sacristán N., Fernández E., Delgado S., Mayo B. 2009, Diversity and evolution of the microbial populations during manufacture and ripening of Casín, a traditional Spanish, starter-free cheese made from cow's milk, International Journal of Food Microbiology 136:44–51 (abstract)paper
  5. [rodriguez2025] Rodríguez J., Suárez P.R., Vázquez L., Flórez A.B., Vivar-Quintana A.M., Mayo B. 2025, Metataxonomic profiling of microbial communities and metabolic analyses of the traditional Spanish raw cow's milk cheese 'Casín' from manufacture to ripening, Frontiers in Microbiology 16:1722502paper