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Fermentation Atlas

Fermented milk from Altai Republic

Chegen (cheghen)чеген

dense, sour, refreshing Altai fermented milk; base for aarchy, kurut and araka. Made in 4 steps over 3.4 days – 3.5 days. The longest step, boil milk, let stand, skim kaimak (boiled-milk type), takes 2 days (Altapress 2023) and runs at 100 °C (Altapress 2023). thermophilic and mesophilic LAB and yeasts does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2 daysReported[altapress2023][znanierussia]Boil milk, let stand, skim kaimak (boiled-milk type)
Temperature100 °CReported[altapress2023][znanierussia]Boil milk, let stand, skim kaimak (boiled-milk type)
DocumentedFermented milk3.4 days – 3.5 daysMore fermented milkMore from Russia

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedWhat goes in. No source gives amounts for this ferment.
{"cow milk":"boiled-and-skimmed"}
raw
or separator skim (obrat)
Starter: backslop: previous chegen, ~100 g per 1 L milk (Altapress); a starter can be made on hops; on far pastures dried willow bark held over smoke served as a substitute starter

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.4 days – 3.5 days

Start
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What changes: The wooden barrel is scalded and smoked with larch and bird-cherry wood

Step 1 of 4
Prepare and smoke the barrel (küp)
Time
2–2.5 h
Reported
Temperature
scald with boiling water
Unconfirmed
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria
Yeasts

Output: smoked barrel.

Flavour
smoky note imparted
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

smoke sanitises and seasons the wood (reported)

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

Variants

  • Raw-milk chegenMilk only cooled, not boiled; cream not removed.
  • Obrat chegenMade from separator skim milk.

Safety

Boiled-milk type is low risk; raw-milk type carries raw-milk risks.

History and sources

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

Offered to every guest entering an Altai yurt; the commonest summer sour-milk drink (znanierussia, citing Sanashkina 1995 and the 2014 Altai ethnography volume).

  1. [altapress2023] Altapress, Предки кефира и водки (2023)book
  2. [znanierussia] Znanie (Большая российская энциклопедия portal), Чеген, (citing Sanashkina, Altai ash-kursak 1995; Altaians ethnography 2014 p. 73)web