Skip to main content
Support

Browse by category

All categories
Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, Savoie, Haute-Savoie, Ain, Jura, Doubs, Haute-Saône, Côte-d'Or, Haute-Marne and nearby

Gruyère (French IGP)Gruyère

Raw cow milk is seeded with whey starters or natural rennet made on recuite and set with calf rennet in an open copper vat. The curd is cooked to 52 °C or more, pressed, salted and pre-ripened cool; a stay in a warm cellar above 15 °C then lets propionic bacteria form pea- to cherry-sized eyes. It ripens at least 120 days. Made in 8 steps over 4.4 months. The longest step, ripen to at least 120 days, takes at least 3.9 months (INAO 2026) and runs at at least 4 °C (INAO 2026). Thermophilic and mesophilic lactobacilli and thermophilic streptococci and Propionic bacteria do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 3.9 monthsSet[inao-cdc]Ripen to at least 120 days
Temperatureat least 4 °CSet[inao-cdc]Ripen to at least 120 days

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes the ingredients and steps, not amounts. A vat makes at most 14 wheels.
Raw cow milk · No heat treatment above 40 °C; partial skimming allowed to standardise fat[inao-cdc]
Natural whey starters or natural rennet prepared on recuite · They bring at least thermophilic lactobacilli; selected cultures are also allowed[inao-cdc]
Calf rennet[inao-cdc]
Salt · As brine or dry salt, then salt water and morge on the rind[inao-cdc]
Starter: natural whey starters and/or natural rennet made on recuite; thermophilic and mesophilic lactobacilli, thermophilic streptococci, propionic bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 4.4 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
up to 40 °C

What changes: Starting material: raw cow milk, never heated above 40 °C

Step 1 of 8
Prepare the raw milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to 40 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactobacilli
Lactic acid bacteria

Pasteurisers, bactofugation and microfiltration are banned. Output: raw milk in the vat.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
white

Microbes at work in this step

native raw-milk flora

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 Swiss Le Gruyère AOP, the French IGP must have pea- to cherry-size eyes from a warm-cellar propionic stage. Its milk must be seeded with natural whey starters or natural rennet on recuite, which bring thermophilic lactobacilli.

Rind
Rubbed, solid, grainy, golden to brown
Size
53–63 cm diameter, 13–16 cm high
Composition
IGP rules: 47–52 % fat in dry matter, at least 62 % dry matter, 0.6–1.7 g salt per 100 g
Ripening
At least 120 days after renneting

Related ferments

History and sources

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

  1. [inao-cdc] INAO, IGP Gruyère specification, amendment approved 9 Apr 2026 (opposition draft)spec
  2. [schubert1996] Schubert K., Ludwig W., Springer N., Kroppenstedt R.M., Accolas J.P., Fiedler F. 1996, Two coryneform bacteria isolated from the surface of French Gruyère and Beaufort cheeses are new species of the genus Brachybacterium, International Journal of Systematic Bacteriology 46:81–87, doi:10.1099/00207713-46-1-81paper