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Cheese from Chile

Queso chanco

Pasteurised cow milk is warmed to 32 °C, given a mesophilic aromatic culture of Lactococcus and Leuconostoc, and set with liquid rennet. The curd is cut to 1 cm, cooked at 38 °C for 20 minutes, salted, pressed in three stages, brined for 12 hours and ripened at about 12 °C. The usual ripening is short, about 21 days, giving a soft, buttery semi-soft cheese.

Fully documentedCheese22 days – 43 daysChilean official standard NCh2090.Of1999 'Queso Chanco - Requisitos'Family: Washed-curd cheese family (Gouda as template)

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceA pilot-plant protocol from a dairy-science study in 160 L double-walled vats; each vat gave two rectangular cheeses of about 7.3 kg.
Pasteurised cow milk[brito2003]
Freeze-dried mesophilic aromatic LD culture (direct to vat)[brito2003]
Liquid rennet12 mL per 100 L of milk[brito2003]
Salt, in the curd and as brine[brito2003]
Startermesophilic aromatic LD culture

Total time across the recorded steps: 22 days – 43 days

Start
Drag the bar or press Play
shapes, not to countLactococcus lactisLeuconostoc cremoris32 °C

What changes: A mesophilic culture goes into the milk at 32 °C and starts to sour it

Step 1 of 7
Warm the milk and add culture
Time
20 min
Reported
Temperature
32 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
Leuconostoc cremoris
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

At a glance

Pasteurised cow milk is warmed to 32 °C, given a mesophilic aromatic culture of Lactococcus and Leuconostoc, and set with liquid rennet. The curd is cut to 1 cm, cooked at 38 °C for 20 minutes, salted, pressed in three stages, brined for 12 hours and ripened at about 12 °C. The usual ripening is short, about 21 days, giving a soft, buttery semi-soft cheese. Made in 7 steps over 22 days – 43 days. The longest step, ripen, takes 21–42 days (Brito C 2003) and runs at 12 °C (Brito C 2003). Lactococcus lactis subsp. cremoris, L. lactis subsp. lactis, L. lactis biovar diacetylactis and Leuconostoc cremoris does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step21–42 daysReported[brito2003]Ripen
Temperature12 °CReported[brito2003][vargas2021]Ripen

What makes this one different

A Chilean semi-soft cheese made with a mesophilic aromatic culture, a low 38 °C cook and only about three weeks of ripening, so it stays soft and buttery.

Milk
Pasteurised cow milk in dairy practice
Ripening
Short, about 21 days
Size
Rectangular blocks about 40 × 25 × 8 cm, about 7.3 kg, in one study

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised in the studies, and the cheese ripens in cool rooms at 10–12 °C.

History and sources

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

Aguilera Salazar traces the first records of Chanco cheese to the 18th century and places its home between the Maule and Toltén rivers. She found 34 documents from 1773 to 1848 that mention it and proposes that it was made mostly, if not entirely, from sheep milk. The traveller Lafond wrote in 1844 that the best cheese came from Chanco. The official standard NCh2090.Of1999 was declared by Decree No. 90 exento of 28 June 1999.

  1. [brito2003] Brito C., Manríquez X., Molina L.H., Pinto M. 2003, Estudio de maduración de queso Chanco bajo en grasa elaborado con leche homogeneizada, Archivos Latinoamericanos de Nutrición 53(3):299-305paper
  2. [brito2006] Brito C., Uribe Zúñiga P., Molina L.H., Molina I., Pinto M. 2006, Production of low-fat Chanco cheese using homogenized milk and adjunct lactic culture, International Journal of Dairy Technology 59(4):242-249 (abstract)paper
  3. [vargas2021] Vargas-Bello-Pérez E. et al. 2021, Chemical Composition, Fatty Acid Profile and Sensory Characteristics of Chanco-Style Cheese from Early Lactation Dairy Cows Fed Winter Brassica, Animals 11(1):107paper
  4. [nch2090] Ministerio de Agricultura (Chile), Decreto No. 90 exento of 28 June 1999, declaring NCh2090.Of1999 'Productos Lácteos. Queso Chanco - Requisitos' an official standard (FAOLEX copy)gov
  5. [aguilera2016] Aguilera Salazar P. 2016, El queso de Chanco: un producto típico de la industria popular de Chile (siglos XVIII y XIX), RIVAR 3(8):41-63paper