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Cheese from Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, Prov. Bolzano

Hartkäse Gran Spicchio & Gran Dolomiti (Formaggio duro)

Mountain cow milk is skimmed to 2.0–3.0% fat, thermised or pasteurised, then set with lactic cultures and rennet. The curd is cooked, rests under the whey, goes into moulds and is brined. The 35–42 kg wheels ripen 6–15 months at 80–98% humidity and are turned or brushed 10–15 times.

Fully documentedCheese6 months – 15 monthsPAT (Autonomous Province of Bolzano, product form no. 10 under art. 8 D.Lgs. 173/98)Family: Cooked hard alpine cheese family (Comté, Gruyère and Emmentaler as templates)

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedCooperative dairy process; the provincial form gives no doses. A whole wheel weighs 35–42 kg.
Fresh cow milk collected in the mountains above 1,000 m, part-skimmed[pat-sheet][onaf]
Lactic cultures[pat-sheet]
Calf rennet[pat-sheet][onaf]
Salt (brine)[pat-sheet]
Lysozyme (optional)[onaf]
Starterlactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 6 months – 15 months

Start
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What changes: The mountain milk is part-skimmed and heat-treated

Step 1 of 6
Skim and heat-treat the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

The milk is thermised or pasteurised.

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

Mountain cow milk is skimmed to 2.0–3.0% fat, thermised or pasteurised, then set with lactic cultures and rennet. The curd is cooked, rests under the whey, goes into moulds and is brined. The 35–42 kg wheels ripen 6–15 months at 80–98% humidity and are turned or brushed 10–15 times. Made in 6 steps over 6 months – 15 months. The longest step, ripen, turning and brushing, takes 6–15 months (Autonome Provinz Bozen / Provincia autonoma d…).

Key numbers
Main step6–15 monthsReported[pat-sheet]Ripen, turning and brushing
Temperature35–38 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Set with lactic cultures and rennet

What makes this one different

A South Tyrolean cooperative hard cheese from part-skimmed mountain milk, made since the 1970s. It is lighter in fat than a full-cream alpine wheel and ripens 6–15 months at high humidity.

Rind
Hard, thick, rustic, dark straw
Size
Cylinder 40–45 cm across, side 16–20 cm, 35–42 kg

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is thermised or pasteurised, lysozyme may be added to stop unwanted fermentation, and silage and other fermented forage are excluded from the cows' feed. The cheese ripens 6–15 months. Lysozyme for cheese can be made from hens' eggs, and EFSA calls egg lysozyme a known allergen that residual amounts in cheese may trigger in susceptible people.

History and sources

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

The provincial form bases its tradition on local milk and on continuous making at the Nova Ponente dairy cooperative since 1971 and the Brunico dairy since 1975. ONAF records it among the Bolzano traditional products published by the Ministry in the 21st list of March 2021.

Microbes
No study we found names its microbes.
  1. [pat-sheet] Autonome Provinz Bozen / Provincia autonoma di Bolzano, Produkt-Auskunftsformular / scheda identificazione prodotto (art. 8 D.Lgs. 173/98) no. 10, 'Hartkäse - Formaggio duro Gran Spicchio & Gran Dolomiti', copy hosted by ONAFgov
  2. [onaf] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), cheese page 'Hartkäse Gran Spicchio & Gran Dolomiti' (id 1265)web
  3. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Hartkäse Gran Spicchio & Gran Dolomiti (Formaggio duro Gran Spicchio & Gran Dolomiti)'web
  4. [efsa-lysozyme] EFSA CEP Panel 2023, Safety evaluation of the food enzyme lysozyme from hens' eggs, EFSA Journal 21 (abstract)gov