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Cheese from Spain, the Maestrazgo area

TronchónQueso de Tronchón

Tronchón is a traditional pressed cheese of the Maestrazgo, made from raw or pasteurised sheep, goat or mixed milk set with rennet. In a university pilot-plant make of the mature type, raw goat milk with a commercial starter culture was renneted at 32 °C, cut to 1 cm, stirred at 35 °C to pH 6.35, pressed, brined 3 hours in 23 % brine and ripened two months at 11–12 °C.

Recipe

Amounts from a sourceDoses are from a pilot-plant make of mature Tronchón at the Universitat Politècnica de València, 50 kg of milk per vat, ten cheeses of about 800 g per vat. Farm recipes vary.
Raw goat milk (Murciano-Granadina) in the study; sheep, goat or mixed milk in tradition[quintanilla2019]
Commercial starter culture, CHOOZIT MA4001 (Lactococcus lactis subspecies and Streptococcus thermophilus)5 DCU per 100 L[quintanilla2019]
Calcium chloride0.013 % (v/v)[quintanilla2019]
Liquid calf rennet (chymosin:pepsin 70:30, 150 IMCU)0.07 % (v/v)[quintanilla2019]
Salt brine23 % (w/v)[quintanilla2019]
Startercommercial starter culture (CHOOZIT MA4001) in the study; no source describes a traditional starter

Total time across the recorded steps: 2.1 months

Start
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shapes, not to countLactococcus lactisS. thermophilus32 °C

What changes: Starter and calf rennet set the raw goat milk at 32 °C

Step 1 of 6
Inoculate and set with rennet
Time
30–40 min
Reported
Temperature
32 °C
Reported
Salt
None given
Acidity
Not documented
Which microbes the steps name, step by step
Lactococcus lactis
S. thermophilus
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

Tronchón is a traditional pressed cheese of the Maestrazgo, made from raw or pasteurised sheep, goat or mixed milk set with rennet. In a university pilot-plant make of the mature type, raw goat milk with a commercial starter culture was renneted at 32 °C, cut to 1 cm, stirred at 35 °C to pH 6.35, pressed, brined 3 hours in 23 % brine and ripened two months at 11–12 °C. Made in 6 steps over 2.1 months. The longest step, ripen, takes 2 months (Quintanilla P 2019) and runs at 11–12 °C (Quintanilla P 2019). Salt is 23 % (Quintanilla P 2019). Lactococcus lactis subsp. lactis, L. lactis subsp. cremoris, L. lactis subsp. lactis biovar diacetylactis and Streptococcus thermophilus does most of the fermenting.

Key numbers
Main step2 monthsReported[quintanilla2019][quintanilla2020]Ripen
Temperature11–12 °CReported[quintanilla2019]Ripen
Salt23 %Reported[quintanilla2019]Brine
AciditypH 5.3–5.4Reported[quintanilla2019]Mould and press

What makes this one different

A traditional Maestrazgo cheese; the numbers here come from a university pilot-plant make that followed the artisanal process, not from a published rule.

Milk
Sheep, goat or mixed milk, raw or pasteurised
Ripening
About 60 days for mature Tronchón

Related ferments

Safety

In a study, raw goat milk spiked with antibiotics at the EU maximum residue limit left enrofloxacin and ciprofloxacin residues in cheese ripened 60 days; the authors call for a risk assessment of such milk in cheesemaking. Tronchón may also be made from raw milk. ANSES advises pregnant women, young children, people over 65 and people with weak immunity to avoid raw-milk cheeses other than cooked pressed ones such as Gruyère or Comté, because of Listeria, Salmonella and Shiga-toxin E. coli.

History and sources

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

Cervantes names Tronchón cheese twice in the second part of Don Quijote (dedication dated 1615). In chapter LII a cheese from Teresa Panza is said to be better than those of Tronchón, and in chapter LXVI a servant offers slices of Tronchón cheese.

  1. [anses2022] ANSES 2022, Fromages au lait cru, quels risques pour la santé et comment mieux les prévenir (8 April 2022)gov
  2. [quintanilla2019] Quintanilla P, Beltrán MC, Molina A, Escriche I, Molina MP (2019). Characteristics of ripened Tronchón cheese from raw goat milk containing legally admissible amounts of antibiotics. Journal of Dairy Science 102:2941–2953, doi:10.3168/jds.2018-15532 (accepted manuscript, RiuNet)paper
  3. [quintanilla2020] Quintanilla P, Hettinga KA, Beltrán MC, Escriche I, Molina MP (2020). Short communication: Volatile profile of matured Tronchón cheese affected by oxytetracycline in raw goat milk. Journal of Dairy Science 103:6015–6021, doi:10.3168/jds.2019-16510 (accepted manuscript, RiuNet)paper
  4. [cervantes1615] Cervantes Saavedra M. de 1615, Segunda parte del ingenioso caballero don Quijote de la Mancha, chapters LII and LXVI (Project Gutenberg eBook 2000)book
  5. [wp-en-tronchon] Wikipedia (en), "Tronchón" (the town; one sentence on its cheese, outline only)wiki
  6. [maestrazgo-tourism] Comarca del Maestrazgo, Maestrazgo Tourism, "Artisan Cheesemakers of Tronchón" (listing of the cheese dairy and its shop)web