Berner Alpkäse cheese
Berner Berner Alpkäse cheese - General information
Origin
- Berner Alpkäse is a hard cheese produced in the Alps of the Bernese Oberland and adjacent areas of Switzerland. It is a spicy, full-fat, raw milk cheese without holes. The cheese is manufactured exclusively with manual labour, usually on a wood fire. An extra-hard variety of Berner Alpkäse, known as Berner Hobelkäse (planing cheese), is aged for at least two years and it is this variety that is most widely available. Both Berner Alpkäse and Berner Hobelkäse are AOC's in Switzerland.
Cheese group
Milk type
Aroma and taste
- A very hard spicy cheese, matured for 2 years. It is too hard to be cut so is usually planed into thin rolls or crumbled.
Shape, weight and size
- 15 kg rounds
Manufacturing process
The cheese must be made no later than 18 hours after milking. As a rule, the chilled evening milk is partly skimmed to produce a fat content of at least 45% in the final product. This is then mixed with the morning milk. The milk is heated to 33°C and cultured bacteria from the region are added along with the rennet. After 30 minutes, the curds are cut with a cheese-harp into pinhead-sized grains. The curds and whey are then heated to 50°C which shrinks the curds and kills any unwanted bacteria. The curds are packed into a cheese-mould and pressed for 15 hours, after which time the cheese-loaf is soaked in brine for 24 hours. The cheeses, in rounds of at least 15 kg, are aged at a humidity of over 85% and the rind is brushed regularly with brine. The initial ripening period occurs on-site and later the cheese is aged in the cellars of cheesemongers and dairies.
After a maturation period of 6 to 18 months, the cheese is ready for consumption. The second ripening, of at least one year, occurs at a much lower humidity and the rind is no longer washed.
Calories in different varieties and various types of cheeses
The number of calories in various types of cheese is very similar when you compare your cheese to a similar types of cheese.
For example, almost cheeses that are similar to Cheddar cheese have around 400 calories per 100g
If the Berner Alpkäse cheese is not listed below, select a similar type of cheese from the list below to get a rough idea for the number of calories in Berner Alpkäse cheese.
The calorie lists are sortable by clicking the up and down arrows in the heading columns
| Cheese type | Calories per 100g |
|---|---|
| American cheese | 371 |
| Blue cheese | 353 |
| Camembert cheese | 299 |
| Cheddar cheese | 402 |
| Cottage cheese | 98 |
| Edam cheese | 357 |
| Farmer's cheese | 98 |
| Feta cheese | 264 |
| Fontina cheese | 389 |
| Goat cheese | 364 |
| Gouda cheese | 356 |
| Gruyere cheese | 413 |
| Mozzarella cheese | 280 |
| Parmesan cheese | 431 |
| Pimento cheese | 375 |
| Provolone cheese | 352 |
| Queso blanco cheese | 310 |
| Ricotta cheese | 174 |
| Roquefort cheese | 369 |
| Swiss cheese | 380 |
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Errors and omissions
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