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Fermentation Atlas

Cheese from Italy, Trentino-Alto Adige, province of Bolzano

Toblacher Stangenkäse (Formaggio originale di Dobbiaco)Toblacher Stangenkäse

Toblacher Stangenkäse is a semi-hard cow cheese shaped as a long square bar. Pasteurised whole milk is set with lactic cultures and calf rennet at 35–36 °C, cut to hazelnut size and semi-cooked at 39–40 °C. The bars are moulded without pressing, brined 48 hours and ripened about 6 weeks. Made in 7 steps over 44 days – 5.1 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 42 days – 5 months (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)) and runs at 12–13 °C (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)). Salt is 19 % (ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters)). Added lactic starter cultures does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step42 days – 5 monthsReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen
Temperature12–13 °CReported[onaf-sheet]Ripen
Salt19 %Reported[onaf-sheet]Brine the bars
Fully documentedCheese44 days – 5.1 monthsTraditional food product (PAT, Provincia autonoma di Bolzano, no. 34)Family: Uncooked or semi-cooked pressed cheese family (tomme, Saint-Nectaire, Reblochon, Morbier, Raclette)More pressed uncooked cheesesMore from Italy

Recipe

No fixed amounts recordedThe source gives temperatures and times but no amounts. One bar weighs about 5 kg.
Whole cow milk, pasteurised · From cows fed on pasture or hay from local meadows[onaf-sheet]
Powdered lactic cultures[onaf-sheet]
Powdered calf rennet[onaf-sheet]
Salt · As a 19 % brine, and salted water to wash the rind[onaf-sheet]
Starter: powdered lactic cultures

Total time across the recorded steps: 44 days – 5.1 months

Start
Drag the bar or press Play

What changes: Lactic cultures go into pasteurised whole milk

Step 1 of 7
Add cultures to the pasteurised milk
Time
Not documented
Temperature
Not documented
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented

Output: inoculated 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

It was designed as a bar, not a wheel, so it travels and slices easily. The curd is moulded without pressing and ripened only about 6 weeks, which made it a way to use surplus milk.

Rind
Thin, rough, fairly soft, straw-ochre, with traces of greenish mould
Size
Square bar 10 × 10 × 30 cm, about 5 kg
Fat
45 % fat in dry matter

Related ferments

Safety

The milk is pasteurised before cheesemaking and the bars are brined for 48 hours.

History and sources

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

The bar shape dates from 1883 at the first cooperative dairy of Dobbiaco. It was chosen over the round wheel to make transport and cutting easier.

  1. [onaf-sheet] ONAF (national organisation of cheese tasters), technical sheet 'Toblacher Stangenkäse (Formaggio originale di Dobbiaco)'web
  2. [pat-list-bz] Ministero delle politiche agricole, Elenco nazionale dei prodotti agroalimentari tradizionali (L. 238/2016 art. 12), Allegato I, Provincia autonoma di Bolzano, no. 34 (copy hosted by informacibo.it, 2018)gov
  3. [onaf] ONAF, scheda formaggio 'Toblacher stangenkäse' (id 805)web