Odenwálder Frà¼hstà¼ckskáse
Name of Group of Producers
Inspection Body
Meckenheimer Allee, 137 - 53115 Bonn
SchanzenfeldstraàŸe 8
35578 Wetzlar
Tel: 0641-303-5144
Fax: 0641-303-5109
saathoffj@ulf.hessen.de
Date of Registration: 25.11.1997
Traditional product from the southern part of the Hessischer Odenwald. Documents from the 18th century show that Odenwald farmers supplied cheese as part of their rental to their feudal lords.
Produced exclusively from pasteurised dairy milk from production area. Ripened with yellow or red bacteria.
After skimming and pasteurising at 72°C the milk is cooled to 34°C, poured into cheese vats and pre-ripened with 2% starter addition to an acid value of 7.5. Then natural rennet from calves' stomach is added (18 ml rennet extract of strength 1:15,000).
The curdled milk is tested by hand after about 60 minutes for right consistency. The mass is cut with a fine wire knife into 1.5-2 cm cubes. The whey is drained off from the resultant curd. This process is speeded up by turning several times. The unwashed curd is very carefully put by
hand into pre-warmed shaping molds. The cheese is turned after a standing time of 30 minutes. It is turned again after 30, 60 and 120 minutes. The whey is completely expressed after about 6 hours. The cheese is then put into a 18°C warm NaCl solution for 2 hours. This is necessary to form the skin and contributes to the formation of flavour and aroma.
In the first ripening room the yeast is completely formed on the surface within the next 24 hours at 20°C which deacidifies the cheese surface, necessary for activating the real ripening organisms (Brevibakterium lienens).
After two or three days when the cheese is already slightly soft it is creamed and turned about 4-5 times within the remaining ripening period. The cheese ripens in a special ripening room for 14 days at about 14°C and optimal humidity (90% relative dampness).
Production weight of cheese is 100g. Fat content of the quarter fat stage is at least 10%, of the fat stage 45% weight in the dried matter. Dried matter content in 100 parts weight is minimum 31%, maximum 42%. Yield per 100 kg milk is about 9.5-10 kg cheese. The mature cheese is wrapped in aluminium foil or polypropylene foil in rolls of 200 or 500 gr.
Production area is in the nature park Bergstrasse-Odenwald. Flat land between 400 and 500 m. high with poor sandy soil and precipitations between 900 and 1200 mm/year provides little lucrative alternative to dairy farming, apart from forestry. The feeding basis of this hilly situation which is rich in species lends the cheese a special flavour.
