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Cheese from Colombia

Queso doble crema

A boundary entry. The milk is soured by adding acid or whey rather than a lactic culture, until it reaches the stretching point near pH 5.1–5.2, then set with rennet. The curd is stretched at about 75 °C, moulded and packed. The soft, creamy, unripened cheese stayed acceptable to tasters for about two months vacuum-packed at 4 °C in one study.

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedTraditionally the milk is soured with acid or whey instead of lactic cultures (El Espectador). The published method standardises 15 kg lots of milk and lets them acidify to 0.40% acidity, as lactic acid, before rennet is added (Novoa 2008).
Cow milk, its fat set to the cheese wantedOne study standardised milk to 0.9% fat for a semi-fat cheese and 5.1% for a full-fat one[novoa2008]
Acid or whey left from cheesemaking, to sour the milk[elespectador]
Rennet[novoa2008]
Starternone traditionally; acid or whey, the liquid left from cheesemaking
Start
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pH 6.6 → 5.1

What changes: Acid or whey goes into the milk and brings its acidity down toward stretching point

Step 1 of 5
Sour the milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
pH 6.6 → 5.1
Reported

Traditionally no lactic cultures are used; acid or whey does the souring.

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

A boundary entry. The milk is soured by adding acid or whey rather than a lactic culture, until it reaches the stretching point near pH 5.1–5.2, then set with rennet. The curd is stretched at about 75 °C, moulded and packed. The soft, creamy, unripened cheese stayed acceptable to tasters for about two months vacuum-packed at 4 °C in one study.

Key numbers
Temperature75 °CReported[novoa2008]Stretch
AciditypH 5.4 → 4.93Measured[novoa2008]Keep cold

What makes this one different

A Colombian pasta filata in which the acidity for stretching comes from added acid or whey, not from a lactic culture. Its name suggests a rich cheese, but it can be made at different fat levels, and its elastic texture, not its fat, sets it apart from other Colombian fresh cheeses.

Yield
11.71% (full-fat) and 7.85% (semi-fat) of the milk weight in one study

Related ferments

Safety

The cheese is not ripened and is kept cold. Vacuum-packed at 4 °C, tasters still accepted it for about 60 days in one study, but that is a sensory limit, not a safety one. Moulds and yeasts passed the reference limit by day 60.

History and sources

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

Canal Trece reported in 2018 that doble crema is said to have been discovered in 1877 by Sara Baldé.

  1. [novoa2008] Novoa C.F., López N.C. 2008, Evaluación de la vida útil sensorial del queso doble crema con dos niveles de grasa, Revista de la Facultad de Medicina Veterinaria y de Zootecnia (Universidad Nacional de Colombia) 55:91-99paper
  2. [elespectador] El Espectador, '¿Cuál es la diferencia entre queso mozzarella, campesino, doble crema y cuál elegir?', with cheesemaker Juan Dennis, June 2026web
  3. [canaltrece2018] Canal Trece Colombia, 'Quesos con sello "Hecho en Colombia"', 23 November 2018web