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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Austria, Tyrol, the Paznaun valley and its side valleys

Paznauner AlmkäsePaznauner Almkas

Raw milk from cows on high alpine pasture is skimmed by hand to the wanted fat level, given calf rennet and lactic bacteria, and the curd is heated to 35–52 °C. The pressed wheels are brined or dry-salted and ripen at least six weeks in natural cellars, smeared with salt water, sometimes with a red-smear culture. It is made only during the 90–120 days of the alpine summer. Made in 6 steps over 42 days. The longest step, smear and ripen in a natural cellar, takes at least 42 days (Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture (BMLUK)). Added lactic acid bacteria does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 42 daysReported[bmluk]Smear and ripen in a natural cellar
Temperature35–52 °CReported[bmluk]Heat the curd

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedNo published amounts. Wheels weigh 3.5–5 kg.
Raw cow milk · Hay milk; cows fed only grass and hay, no silage[bmluk]
Calf rennet · Rennet substitutes and genetically made rennet are not allowed[bmluk]
Lactic acid bacteria[bmluk]
Salt · As brine or dry salt, and in the salt water used to smear the rind[bmluk]
Red-smear culture (optional) · Added to the salt water early in ripening[bmluk]
Starter: added lactic acid bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 42 days

Start
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What changes: Cream rises on the raw milk and is skimmed off by hand

Step 1 of 6
Skim the raw milk by hand
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Milk is traditionally poured into low wooden vessels (Stotzen) and skimmed by hand to the wanted fat level.

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

Under the Austrian food code the name Alm or Alp normally belongs to hard cheeses; Paznauner Almkäse is a semi-hard cheese ripened only six weeks, though its curd is heated to hard-cheese temperatures. Cheese made on the valley farms outside the alpine season is sold as Paznauner Käse instead.

Composition
Fat at least 25 % of dry matter; made in levels from half-fat to full-fat
Size
Wheels of 3.5–5 kg, never blocks
Season
Only during the 90–120 days of the alpine grazing season
Rind
Firm, yellow to brownish, no cracks, sometimes with a thin dried smear

Related ferments

Safety

Made from raw milk. The source says the high curd temperature gives a hygienic safety close to that of hard cheese.

History and sources

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

Alpine cheese appears in medieval sources as 'casei alpini' or 'alpchaese', and a 1544 record in the Tyrolean state archive describes a long-keeping cheese from the region. For a long time alpine milk in the Paznaun went mainly into butter, with cheese a by-product of the skimmed milk.

  1. [bmluk] Austrian Federal Ministry of Agriculture (BMLUK), Traditionelle Lebensmittel in Österreich, 'Paznauner Almkäse'gov
  2. [paznaun-tvb] Tourismusverband Paznaun – Ischgl 2024, How Paznaun became a cheese hub (17 September 2024)web