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Cheese from France, Doubs, Haute-Marne, Haute-Saône, Jura, Territoire de Belfort and Vosges

Emmental français Est-Central PGI

Raw cow milk, chilled to 2–6 °C on the farm, is standardised to 27–34 g/L fat, seeded with cultures and set with calf rennet at 31–33 °C. The curd is cooked above 50 °C for at least 30 minutes, pressed at least 4 hours and brined 24–90 hours. The wheel ripens in three phases (cold, warm, then cold again) for at least 12 weeks; the eyes form in the warm cellar.

Fully documentedCheese3.2 days – 5.9 daysPGI (EU, Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 1996)Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification sets limits, not amounts. A wheel weighs 60–130 kg and measures 70–100 cm across.
Raw cow milk, milked twice a dayFat adjusted to 27–34 g/L; preheating may not go above 40 °C and HTST heating is banned[efec-cdc]
Cultures of all types, chosen for taste and paste[efec-cdc]
Calf rennet, or calf abomasum[efec-cdc]
Salt (NaCl), as brine; no other preservative is allowed[efec-cdc]
Startercultures of all types, selected for taste and paste

Total time across the recorded steps: 3.2 days – 5.9 days

Start
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2–6 °C

What changes: Raw milk is chilled to 2–6 °C and waits on the farm for one or two days

Step 1 of 9
Chill the milk on the farm
Time
up to 2 days
Set
Temperature
2–6 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Milk is collected at least every two days, separately from other milk.

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

At a glance

Raw cow milk, chilled to 2–6 °C on the farm, is standardised to 27–34 g/L fat, seeded with cultures and set with calf rennet at 31–33 °C. The curd is cooked above 50 °C for at least 30 minutes, pressed at least 4 hours and brined 24–90 hours. The wheel ripens in three phases (cold, warm, then cold again) for at least 12 weeks; the eyes form in the warm cellar. Made in 9 steps over 3.2 days – 5.9 days. The longest step, brine, takes 24 h – 3.8 days (Cahier des charges de l'indication géographiq…) and runs at 10–18 °C (Cahier des charges de l'indication géographiq…).

Key numbers
Main step24 h – 3.8 daysSet[efec-cdc]Brine
Temperature10–18 °CSet[efec-cdc]Brine

What makes this one different

Made only from raw milk and ripened at least 12 weeks, against 6 weeks for standard French Emmental; the dairy may not own any equipment that heat-treats the milk above 40 °C.

Milk
Raw cow milk; grazing for at least 6 months a year; all basic fodder from the area
Ripening
At least 12 weeks (84 days) from making; 6 weeks for standard French Emmental
Size
Wheel 60–130 kg, 0.70–1 m across, at least 14 cm high at the edge; at least 45% fat in dry matter and 62 g dry matter per 100 g

Related ferments

Safety

The milk stays raw, so the specification chills it to 2–6 °C within 3 h 30 min of milking and limits farm storage to 24–48 hours depending on the temperature. The US FDA says ageing raw-milk cheese for 60 days may not remove E. coli O157:H7 and Salmonella, and Listeria may grow in certain cheeses during ageing. The CDC says people at higher risk, including pregnant women, people 65 or older and people with weak immunity, should avoid cheese made with raw milk unless it is heated to 165 °F (74 °C) or until steaming hot.

History and sources

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

The specification says milk was abundant in summer in the Middle Ages, and that making large wheels, which needed up to 900 litres of milk each, led producers to form cooperatives that pooled their milk. It calls the Est-Central the region of the fruitières, the cheese cooperatives. The PGI was registered under Commission Regulation (EC) No 1107/96 of 12 June 1996; Regulation (EU) No 1005/2013 and Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/494 later approved non-minor amendments to the specification.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [efec-cdc] Cahier des charges de l'indication géographique protégée « Emmental français est-central », version attached to the notice of BO Agri n° 2023-10 (approval of the EU amendment, Commission Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/494 of 28 February 2023); it replaces the version of BO Agri n° 2021-14. The process values were compared with the 2021 text and are unchanged.spec
  2. [efec-cdc2021] Cahier des charges de l'indication géographique protégée « Emmental français est-central », homologated by arrêté of 11 March 2021 (JORF 26 March 2021), Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'Agriculture n° 2021-14 (replaced in 2023)spec
  3. [efec-reg2023] European Commission, Implementing Regulation (EU) 2023/494 of 28 February 2023 approving a non-minor amendment to the product specification of 'Emmental français est-central' (PGI), Official Journal L 69, 7.3.2023, pp. 3–4 (Spanish text)spec
  4. [fda-rawcheese2016] US Food and Drug Administration 2016, FY 2014–2016 Microbiological Sampling Assignment Summary Report, Raw Milk Cheese Aged 60 Daysgov
  5. [cdc-listeria] US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Preventing Listeria Infectiongov