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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from United States

Liederkranz

Liederkranz is a small, soft American cow-milk cheese ripened by a surface smear, like a mild Limburger. In the 1953 USDA account, pasteurised milk is set at about 86 °F, the curd is dipped into perforated forms, dry-salted and cured at about 45 °F for 3–4 weeks. Made in 5 steps over 21 days – 28 days. The longest step, cure with a surface smear, takes 21–28 days (Sanders G.P. 1953) and runs at 7 °C (Sanders G.P. 1953). Lactic starter and Red-slime surface bacteria do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step21–28 daysReported[usda-hb54]Cure with a surface smear
Temperature7 °CReported[usda-hb54]Cure with a surface smear

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedHistorical factory account with no batch size. Each cheese was about 2½ × 1½ × 1 inches and weighed 5 to 6 ounces.
Whole cow milk, pasteurised[usda-hb54]
Starter and rennet[usda-hb54]
Dry salt[usda-hb54]
Starter: lactic starter; surface smear organisms

Total time across the recorded steps: 21 days – 28 days

Start
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30 °C

What changes: Starter and rennet go into pasteurised milk at about 30 °C

Step 1 of 5
Pasteurise and set the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
30 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
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

Liederkranz is an American smear-ripened cheese, close to a mild Limburger but smaller and softer, cured cold for only 3–4 weeks.

Milk
Pasteurised whole cow milk
Ripening
3–4 weeks at about 45 °F (1953)
Composition
Moisture 54 %, fat 24.2 % (over 50 % of solids), protein 16.8 % (1953 analysis)

Related ferments

Variants

  • Revived Liederkranz (2010)Made again by DCI Cheese Company in Wisconsin from the original trademark and cultures; sold in aroma-proof foil.

History and sources

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

Emil Frey, a Swiss cheesemaker, created it in 1891 in Monroe, New York, and named it after a singing club. Production moved to Van Wert, Ohio, in 1926; Borden bought the company in 1929. Production stopped in 1985 and was revived in 2010 in Wisconsin.

  1. [usda-hb54] Sanders G.P. 1953, Cheese varieties and descriptions, USDA Agriculture Handbook 54 (Liederkranz)archive
  2. [usda-608] Doane C.F., Lawson H.W., revised by Matheson K.J. 1928, Varieties of cheese, descriptions and analyses, USDA Bulletin 608 (Liederkranz, made at Van Wert, Ohio, ripened by red slime)archive
  3. [wp] Wikipedia, Liederkranz cheese (history outline only)wiki