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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Lombardy

Mascarpone (BOUNDARY)Mascarpone

Mascarpone is a boundary entry, not a true ferment. Cream is heated to about 90 °C and set with citric or another food acid; no bacteria sour it. The curd rests for 8–12 hours, drains through fine cloth and is chilled, giving a sweet, buttery cream cheese. Made in 5 steps over 46 h – 2.1 days. The longest step, drain through fine cloth, takes 20 h (Capozzi V 2020).

Key numbers
Main step20 hReported[capozzi2020]Drain through fine cloth
Temperature85–95 °CReported[lombardia-pat][capozzi2020]Heat the cream in a water bath
AciditypH 5.7–6.6Reported[capozzi2020]Add acid and let it curdle
Fully documentedCheese46 h – 2.1 daysTraditional food product (PAT), LombardyFamily: Acid-heat set cheese family (FERMENTATION BOUNDARY)More acid-heat set cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe regional sheet gives the steps but no amounts.
Fresh cream · Separated from milk by centrifuge[lombardia-pat][capozzi2020]
Citric acid · Other makers use acetic, tartaric or lactic acid, vinegar or lemon juice[lombardia-pat][capozzi2020]
Starter: none; acid sets the heated cream

Total time across the recorded steps: 46 h – 2.1 days

Start
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85–95 °C

What changes: Cream is heated in a water bath to about 90 °C

Step 1 of 5
Heat the cream in a water bath
Time
Not documented
Temperature
85–95 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: hot cream.

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

Mascarpone is made from cream, not milk, and is set by heat and acid, not by bacteria or rennet, so it is a boundary entry. Ricotta is also heat-set, but from whey.

Milk
Cream, not milk
Ripening
Fresh; it keeps only a short time
Setting
Cream heated to about 90 °C and set with citric acid (Lombardy PAT sheet)

Related ferments

Safety

Mascarpone is not acidified by bacteria. A survey found its pH, water activity and redox potential all allow Clostridium botulinum to grow, and spores grew and made toxin after 3–4 days at 28 °C, so keep it refrigerated. In a challenge test with C. sporogenes, a harmless relative, there was no growth at 4 or 12 °C, and the starting pH was 6.14.

Hazards the sources name: Clostridium botulinum spores; found in 32.5 % of 1,017 retail samples in one survey, and able to grow and make toxin in mascarpone held at 28 °C.

History and sources

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

The regional sheet says the name probably comes from mascherpa, a Lombard dialect word for cream. Farms once made it only in winter, because it keeps badly.

  1. [lombardia-pat] Regione Lombardia, Prodotti Agroalimentari Tradizionali, Mascarpone artigianale (sheet, via ONAF)gov
  2. [capozzi2020] Capozzi V., Lonzarich V., Khomenko I., Cappellin L., Navarini L., Biasioli F. 2020, Unveiling the molecular basis of mascarpone cheese aroma, Molecules 25:1242, doi:10.3390/molecules25051242paper
  3. [franciosa1999] Franciosa G., Pourshaban M., Gianfranceschi M., Gattuso A., Fenicia L., Ferrini A.M., Mannoni V., De Luca G., Aureli P. 1999, Clostridium botulinum spores and toxin in mascarpone cheese and other milk products, Journal of Food Protection 62:867–871, doi:10.4315/0362-028X-62.8.867paper
  4. [carminati2001] Carminati D., Perrone A., Neviani E. 2001, Inhibition of Clostridium sporogenes growth in mascarpone cheese by co-inoculation with Streptococcus thermophilus under conditions of temperature abuse, Food Microbiology 18:571–579, doi:10.1006/fmic.2001.0426paper