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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Switzerland, canton of Glarus

Glarner Alpkäse

Glarner Alpkäse is a full-fat semi-hard cheese made only in summer on the Glarus alps, from raw milk of cows fed no silage. The milk is set in a copper kettle with a mesophilic and thermophilic culture, the curd is cooked to 44–47 °C, pressed into 5–9 kg wheels and brined for a day. It ripens at least 60 days on wooden boards with a smeared rind. Made in 7 steps over 2 months. The longest step, rub, smear and ripen on wooden boards, takes at least 2 months (Federal Office for Agriculture (BLW) 2013) and runs at 12–18 °C (Federal Office for Agriculture (BLW) 2013). Mesophilic and thermophilic lactic acid bacteria from a culture made for alp dairies and Smear (Schmiere) flora on the rind; Agroscope smear culture may start it at the beginning of the season do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 2 monthsSet[glarner-ph]Rub, smear and ripen on wooden boards
Temperature12–18 °CSet[glarner-ph]Rub, smear and ripen on wooden boards

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe amounts describe a 100 l kettle in the specification. Wheels are 28–32 cm across and weigh 5–9 kg.
Raw cow milk from the Glarus summer pastures · No silage; cooled below 13 °C within 2 hours if not made into cheese at once; oldest milking at most 24 hours old; fat set by skimming the stored milk; only cooling, no heat treatment[glarner-ph]
2–8 tablespoons per 100 l of milkLactic culture of mesophilic and thermophilic bacteria · Grown on milk or skim milk and made for alp dairies; may be added 10–40 minutes before the rennet[glarner-ph]
Rennet · Not genetically modified[glarner-ph]
Salt · Without iodine or fluoride, for the brine and the smear water[glarner-ph]
Startermesophilic and thermophilic lactic culture made for alp dairies

Total time across the recorded steps: 2 months

Start
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up to 13 °C

What changes: Starting material: raw summer milk from the Glarus alps, skimmed as it stands

Step 1 of 7
Cool and skim the alp milk
Time
up to 24 h
Set
Temperature
up to 13 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Made only during the local summer grazing season, never before 1 May or after 30 September. The milk is not bactofuged or filtered.

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

Glarner Alpkäse is a small semi-hard alp cheese cooked to only 44–47 °C, well below the 54–59 °C of Gruyère, and ripened at least 60 days. It is made only on the Glarus summer pastures between May and September, from milk whose fat is set by letting the cream rise.

Rind
Firm, cared-for smear rind that dries with age
Size
5–9 kg; 28–32 cm diameter

Related ferments

Safety

This is a raw-milk cheese. ANSES names Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli as the risks of raw-milk cheeses and advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity not to eat them, except cooked pressed cheeses.

Hazards the sources name: Listeria monocytogenes, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin-producing E. coli (raw-milk risks named by ANSES).

History and sources

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

Glarner Alpkäse was registered as a Swiss protected designation of origin by the Federal Office for Agriculture on 3 September 2013; the specification was amended on 17 March 2020. Under the Swiss Alp ordinance only cheese made in the summering area may be called Alp cheese, though it may ripen elsewhere.

  1. [glarner-ph] Federal Office for Agriculture (BLW), Pflichtenheft Glarner Alpkäse, protected designation of origin registered by ruling of 3 September 2013, amended by ruling of 17 March 2020spec
  2. [balv] Swiss Federal Council, Verordnung über die Verwendung der Bezeichnungen «Berg» und «Alp» (Berg- und Alp-Verordnung, BAlV), SR 910.19, Art. 8gov
  3. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov