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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Central Switzerland

Sbrinz AOPSbrinz

Partly skimmed raw cow milk is set in copper vats with thermophilic cultures and rennet, cut with a harp and cooked at 54–57 °C. The wheels are pressed, brined at least 15 days, sweated until a fat film forms, then stored upright and dry; they may not be sold before 18 months. Made in 8 steps over 19 months. The longest step, mature upright, takes at least 18 months (Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft 2019) and runs at 9–14 °C (Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft 2019). Thermophilic lactic acid bacteria does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main stepat least 18 monthsSet[sbrinz-pflichtenheft]Mature upright
Temperature9–14 °CSet[sbrinz-pflichtenheft]Mature upright
Fully documentedCheese19 monthsAOP (Swiss protected designation of origin, registered 20 December 2001)Family: Parmigiano ReggianoMore extra-hard grana cheesesMore from Switzerland

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe specification fixes temperatures and times but no amounts. A wheel weighs 35–48 kg and measures 50–62 cm across and 14–17 cm high at the centre.
Raw cow milk · Never thermised or pasteurised; processed within 24 hours of the oldest milking[sbrinz-pflichtenheft]
Sbrinz-specific, mostly thermophilic lactic cultures · Defined and supplied by the producers' group[sbrinz-pflichtenheft]
Rennet or rennet substitutes · Nothing from genetically modified organisms[sbrinz-pflichtenheft]
Salt · In brine of at least 20 °Bé[sbrinz-pflichtenheft]
Starter: Sbrinz-specific, mostly thermophilic lactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 19 months

Start
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What changes: Raw milk is partly skimmed and run into a copper vat

Step 1 of 8
Skim the raw milk in a copper vat
Time
up to 24 h
Set
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactic acid bacteria

Output: partly skimmed raw milk.

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

Like Parmigiano Reggiano it is a cooked, extra-hard grating cheese from partly skimmed raw milk, but it is made in copper vats with Swiss thermophilic cultures, sweated until a fat film forms, and stored standing on edge in dry cellars at 60–75 % humidity.

Milk
Raw cow milk, partly skimmed
Ripening
At least 18 months before sale
Composition
At least 450 g/kg fat in dry matter; at most 330 g/kg water; at least 10 g/kg salt
Size
35–48 kg; 50–62 cm across; 14–17 cm high at the centre

Related ferments

Variants

  • Sbrinz pieces and grated SbrinzSold broken into chunks (Möckli) or grated, from the same wheels.

Safety

Raw milk is never thermised or pasteurised. Vat milk is screened for propionic bacteria, which cause gas defects in long-ripened raw-milk cheese.

History and sources

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

Sbrinz was registered as a Swiss protected designation of origin on 20 December 2001, with changes in 2004, 2014, 2015 and 2019. A 1953 USDA handbook files Sbrinz under Spalen, a very hard Swiss cooked-curd cheese named for the wooden containers it was shipped in.

  1. [sbrinz-pflichtenheft] Bundesamt für Landwirtschaft, Pflichtenheft für Sbrinz (GUB), as amended on 13 May 2019spec
  2. [turgay2018] Turgay M. et al. 2018, A field study investigating the effectiveness of vat milk controls by qPCR for the prevention of undesired propionic acid fermentation in Sbrinz PDO cheese, International Dairy Journal 77:80–88 (abstract)paper
  3. [usda-hb54] Sanders G.P. 1953, Cheese varieties and descriptions, USDA Agriculture Handbook 54 (Spalen or Sbrinz)archive