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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Northeast Brazil

Queijo coalhoqueijo de coalho

Milk is set with rennet in about 40 minutes, and the curd is cut, stirred and heated to up to 45 °C (semi-cooked) or 45–55 °C (cooked). The curd is salted, moulded and pressed, then kept at 10–12 °C and normally sold within 10 days. It is firm enough to grill on a skewer without melting away. Made in 7 steps over 5 days – 10 days. The longest step, ripen briefly and keep cool, takes 5–10 days (Nassu R.T 2006) and runs at 10–12 °C (Nassu R.T 2006). Salt is 1–2 % (Nassu R.T 2006). Lactic acid bacteria dominated by Enterococcus and Selected lactic cultures, when the maker adds them do most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step5–10 daysSet[embrapa2006][mapa-in30]Ripen briefly and keep cool
Temperature10–12 °CSet[embrapa2006][mapa-in30]Ripen briefly and keep cool
Salt1–2 %Set[embrapa2006]Drain the rest of the whey and salt the curd
Fully documentedCheese5 days – 10 daysBrazilian technical regulation of identity and quality (MAPA Instrução Normativa 30/2001)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)More pressed uncooked cheesesMore from Brazil

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceAmounts from the Embrapa small-producer manual (Nassu et al. 2006), scaled to the milk. The federal regulation fixes the ingredients and the main steps but not the amounts.
Whole milk, or milk standardised to 3 % fat · The regulation requires pasteurisation or an equivalent heat treatment[mapa-in30]
Rennet or another suitable coagulating enzyme · Industrial rennet powder or liquid, used as the maker's label says[mapa-in30][embrapa2006]
40 mL per 100 L of milkCalcium chloride · Optional[embrapa2006]
Lactic starter culture · Optional; the amount follows the culture maker's instructions[embrapa2006]
1–2 % of the milk volumeSalt · Dissolved in whey and stirred into the curd[embrapa2006]
Starterrennet; lactic culture optional; raw-milk artisanal cheese relies on the milk's own lactic bacteria

Total time across the recorded steps: 5 days – 10 days

Start
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62–72 °C

What changes: Heat kills the pathogens in the milk before cheese making

Step 1 of 7
Pasteurise and cool the milk
Time
0.3–30 min
Set
Temperature
62–72 °C
Set
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Enterococcus about
Lactococcus
Streptococcus
Leuconostoc

The federal regulation requires pasteurisation or an equivalent heat treatment. Artisanal makers often use raw milk. Output: pasteurised milk.

Flavour
Not documented
Texture
Not documented
Colour
Not documented

Microbes at work in this step

heat kills pathogens in the milk

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

Queijo coalho is cooked or semi-cooked like a mountain cheese but sold within about ten days, so it keeps a high moisture and a squeaky, elastic texture. Its main use is grilling on a skewer, where it browns without running. Queijo de manteiga, its regional cousin, is set with acid instead of rennet and melted with butter oil.

Milk
Cow milk, whole or standardised; raw in artisanal making, pasteurised under the federal regulation
Curd
Semi-cooked (up to 45 °C) or cooked (45–55 °C); a raw-paste version is allowed
Ripening
Normally sold within 10 days of making
Fat
35–60 % fat in total solids; medium to high moisture

Related ferments

Variants

  • Goat-milk queijo coalhoMade from goat milk in the semi-arid Northeast
  • Coalho ripened on wooden planksArtisanal cheese ripened 30–60 days in one study; moisture and pH fall as it ages
  • Queijo de manteiga (queijo do sertão)Acid-set, washed and melted with manteiga de garrafa; a heat-and-acid product, not rennet-set

Safety

Raw-milk coalho has carried Staphylococcus aureus with enterotoxin genes, and also E. coli, Salmonella and Listeria in one study of goat cheese. The federal regulation requires pasteurised or equivalently heated milk and storage at no more than 12 °C.

Hazards the sources name: Staphylococcus aureus with enterotoxin genes, the pathogen most often isolated from goat coalho in one study; Escherichia coli, Salmonella and Listeria strains isolated from goat coalho.

History and sources

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

Brazil's agriculture ministry set the identity and quality standard for queijo de coalho in 2001, together with those for manteiga de garrafa and queijo de manteiga. It is made mainly in Ceará, Rio Grande do Norte, Paraíba and Pernambuco and is now eaten across Brazil.

  1. [mapa-in30] Brasil, Ministério da Agricultura e do Abastecimento 2001, Instrução Normativa SDA nº 30 de 26 de junho de 2001, Anexo II, Regulamento Técnico de Identidade e Qualidade de Queijo de Coalho (D.O.U. 16/07/2001)gov
  2. [embrapa2006] Nassu R.T., Macedo B.A., Lima M.H.P. 2006, Queijo de Coalho (Coleção Agroindústria Familiar), Embrapa Informação Tecnológica, Brasíliagov
  3. [rodrigues2026] Rodrigues R.C.G.M.C. et al. 2026, Metataxonomic insights into lactic acid bacteria diversity in artisanal coalho cheese from the Caatinga biome, PLoS ONE 21:e0352903 (abstract)paper
  4. [castro2018] Castro R.C.S. et al. 2018, Lactic acid bacteria as biological control of Staphylococcus aureus in coalho goat cheese, Food Technology and Biotechnology 56:431–440 (abstract)paper
  5. [bezerra2024] Bezerra D.A.F.V.A. et al. 2024, Effect of ripening time on the content of bioactive peptides and fatty acids profile of Artisanal Coalho cheese, PLoS ONE 19:e0306552 (abstract)paper