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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Greece, the Agrafa area of Karditsa prefecture

Graviera AgrafonΓραβιέρα Αγράφων

Ewe milk, with up to 30 % goat milk, is thermised or pasteurised, set at 34–36 °C, cut and cooked to 48–52 °C while stirring, then pressed in moulds and brined for two to four days. The wheels are dry-salted for three weeks and ripened for three months in cool and then warmer rooms, where propionic bacteria open small scattered holes. Made in 9 steps over 4.8 months – 4.9 months. The longest step, finish ripening, takes at least 3 months (Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994) and runs at 12–15 °C (Ministry of Agriculture (Greece) 1994). Lactic acid bacteria cultures and Propionic acid bacteria, whose fermentation makes the scattered holes do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3 monthsSet[gr-agrafon][eu-agrafon]Finish ripening
Temperature12–15 °CSet[gr-agrafon]Finish ripening
Fully documentedCheese4.8 months – 4.9 monthsPDO (Greek decision 313045/1994; EU register PDO-GR-0449, 21 June 1996)Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)More cooked alpine cheesesMore from Greece

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe decision sets limits, not a batch. Wheels weigh 2–3 kg or 8–10 kg.
Whole ewe milk · From local breeds fed on the area's plants, milked at least 10 days after lambing[gr-agrafon]
At most 30 % by weightGoat milk[gr-agrafon]
Traditional rennet or other enzymes that act the same way[gr-agrafon]
Lactic and propionic bacteria cultures · Allowed[gr-agrafon]
Up to 20 g per 100 kg of milkCalcium chloride[gr-agrafon]
Salt · Brine at 19–20 °Bé, then dry salt on the surface[gr-agrafon]
Starterlactic and propionic cultures (allowed), plus traditional rennet

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.8 months – 4.9 months

Start
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What changes: The ewe milk is gently heat-treated before cheesemaking

Step 1 of 9
Heat-treat the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Ewe milk, or ewe and goat milk with no more than 30 % goat. The milk is thermised or pasteurised. Concentrating it, or adding milk powder, milk proteins, caseinates, colours, preservatives or antibiotics, is forbidden. Output: thermised or pasteurised ewe 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

What makes this one different

Unlike the cow-milk Graviera Naxou, it is a ewe-milk mountain cheese, like Graviera Kritis, with up to 30 % goat milk. Its decision builds in a warm month for propionic fermentation, which gives it scattered holes, a little like a Swiss cooked cheese.

Milk
Ewe milk, or ewe milk with at most 30 % goat milk; thermised or pasteurised
Cooking
48–52 °C with constant stirring
Ripening
3 months in all; at least 3 months in the EU summary
Size
Cylinders of 2–3 kg or 8–10 kg
Composition
Moisture at most 38 %; fat at least 40 % of dry matter

Related ferments

Safety

The 1994 decision requires the milk to be thermised or pasteurised. The cheese is cooked to 48–52 °C, holds at most 38 % moisture and ripens three months.

History and sources

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

The PDO application says the cheese had been known for over a century. Greece recognised Graviera Agrafon as a protected designation of origin on 14 January 1994, at the request of the Karditsa milk sellers' and cheesemakers' association "Amaltheia". The Cheese Atlas says most of it is exported, to France, Switzerland and Germany.

  1. [gr-agrafon] Ministry of Agriculture (Greece), Ministerial Decision 313045, Recognition of the protected designation of origin (PDO) of the cheese Graviera Agrafon, Government Gazette B 16, 14 January 1994 (WIPO Lex GR054; text as adopted, later amendments not checked)spec
  2. [eu-agrafon] European Commission, eAmbrosia register, Graviera Agrafon PDO-GR-0449, application summary (Annex I, EEC no. VGR/0449/940121), registered by Regulation (EC) 1107/96, OJ L 148, 21.06.1996spec
  3. [cheeseatlas] The Cheese Atlas, Graviera Agrafon (cheese profile)web