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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France

Faissellefaisselle

Milk is soured with lactic ferments and a little rennet at about 20 °C until the curd reaches pH 4.2–4.8. The soft curd is ladled by hand into perforated pots, the faisselles, and sold in them with its whey. It is a fresh cheese that keeps live lactic bacteria. Made in 6 steps over 31 days. The longest step, drain in the pot and keep cold, takes up to 31 days (PAQ 2018) and runs at 0–6 °C (PAQ 2018). Lactic ferments does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepup to 31 daysSet[lr-faisselle]Drain in the pot and keep cold
Temperature0–6 °CSet[lr-faisselle]Drain in the pot and keep cold
AciditypH 5.9–6.7 → 4.2Set[lr-faisselle]Add rennet and let it set
Fully documentedCheese31 daysnone (generic name); one Label Rouge (LA 04/18) covers a ladle-moulded faisselleFamily: Fresh lactic (acid-set) cheese familyMore fresh acid-set cheesesMore from France

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts are for the Label Rouge faisselle, per 100 litres of milk. No salt is added.
Fresh pasteurised cow milk · At least 36 g/L fat on arrival; cream skimmed on site raises it to at least 45 g/L[lr-faisselle]
Lactic ferments[lr-faisselle]
5–20 mL per 100 litres of milkRennet · Rennet with 130–180 mg chymosin per litre[lr-faisselle]
At most 0.04 %Calcium chloride[lr-faisselle]
Startermesophilic lactic ferments

Total time across the recorded steps: 31 days

Start
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What changes: Whole milk, enriched with its own cream, is pasteurised

Step 1 of 6
Pasteurise the enriched milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Milk arriving on day J is pasteurised by day J+1 at the latest.

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

Faisselle is fromage blanc sold barely drained, in the perforated pot it drains in. The curd is not stirred smooth, so it keeps the shape the ladle gave it.

Milk
Pasteurised whole cow milk enriched with its own cream (Label Rouge)
Composition
Curd plus whey at least 4.5 % fat, and fat at least 20 % of dry matter (Label Rouge)
Dry matter
French law lets fresh cheese go down to 15 g or 10 g of dry matter per 100 g

Related ferments

Variants

  • Label Rouge faisselleUnit moulding by hand ladle, no draining outside the pack, at least 4.5 % fat.
  • Farm faisselleGoat, sheep or cow milk, often raw (outline only).

Safety

Made from pasteurised milk and kept at 0–6 °C with a use-by date of at most 31 days from renneting (Label Rouge rules).

Hazards the sources name: Enterobacteria and Escherichia coli (limits of 10 per g in the pasteurised milk and the finished product).

History and sources

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

The name is that of the perforated draining mould, the faisselle, in which the curd is both drained and sold.

  1. [lr-faisselle] PAQ 2018, Cahier des charges du Label Rouge n° LA 04/18 « Faisselle », homologated by arrêté of 20 November 2018, Bulletin officiel du Ministère de l'agriculture n° 2018-48spec
  2. [decret-2007-628] Décret n° 2007-628 du 27 avril 2007 relatif aux fromages et spécialités fromagères, article 2 (FAOLEX copy, consolidated 1 June 2007)spec
  3. [wp-fr] Wikipédia (fr), Faisselle (outline only)wiki