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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from France, Jura massif

Morbier

Raw cow milk is warmed to no more than 34 °C and set with rennet, and the curd is shaped into two blocks with a thin layer of vegetable charcoal smeared between them before pressing. The salted wheel ripens on spruce boards at 7–15 °C for at least 45 days while its rind is rubbed with water and ferments. Made in 6 steps over 45 days. The longest step, ripen on spruce boards, rubbing the rind, takes at least 45 days (Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine…) and runs at 7–15 °C (Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine…). Selected lactic cultures does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 45 daysSet[morbier-cdc]Ripen on spruce boards, rubbing the rind
Temperature7–15 °CSet[morbier-cdc]Ripen on spruce boards, rubbing the rind
AciditypH up to 5.4Set[morbier-cdc]Smear charcoal between two curd blocks and press

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceThe specification sets the starter and water shares and no other amounts.
Raw cow milk · From no more than two successive milkings; may be partly skimmed[morbier-cdc]
Rennet · The only coagulant allowed[morbier-cdc]
Selected lactic cultures · Sub-cultured or added directly; a starter grown on reconstituted milk is limited to 3 % of the milk[morbier-cdc]
At least 6 % of the milk volumeWater · Added at the start of the make to wash out lactose[morbier-cdc]
Vegetable charcoal (carbo medicinalis vegetalis) · For the black line[morbier-cdc]
Salt · Dry or in brine[morbier-cdc]
Starterselected lactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 45 days

Start
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up to 18 °C

What changes: Starting material: raw cow milk from Montbéliarde or Simmental herds

Step 1 of 6
Collect raw milk and keep it cool
Time
Not documented
Temperature
up to 18 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: raw milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
white

Microbes at work in this step

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

Morbier's black line is vegetable charcoal smeared by hand between two blocks of curd before pressing, where other pressed cheeses have a plain paste. The milk is raw, the vat never goes above 45 °C, and the wheel ripens at least 45 days on spruce boards with a rubbed rind.

Milk
Raw cow milk from Montbéliarde or French Simmental herds
Ripening
At least 45 days at 7–15 °C on spruce boards
Size
30–40 cm across, 5–8 cm high, 5–8 kg; at least 45 g fat per 100 g dry matter

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is raw.

Hazards the sources name: Salmonella enterica serovar Dublin, isolated from Morbier cheese.

History and sources

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

The specification says farms once made Morbier from two successive milkings; the first curd was coated with soot from under the kettle to protect it until the second was added, which left the line.

  1. [morbier-cdc] Cahier des charges de l'appellation d'origine « Morbier », approved by the INAO national committee on 19 Nov 2025 and homologated by order of 18 Dec 2025 (JORF 7 Jan 2026)spec
  2. [cadelsix2019] Cadel-Six S., Vignaud M.L., Mohammed M. 2019, Draft genome sequences of Salmonella enterica subsp. enterica serovar Dublin strains from St. Nectaire and Morbier cheeses, Microbiology Resource Announcements 8(1):e01361-18, doi:10.1128/MRA.01361-18paper