Jarlsberg® Cheese
The following excerpt can be found in Jim Wallace's guidelines for creating a Norwegian Style cheese such as Jarlsberg®, in the link above.
A path to making a norwegian style cheese
We cannot provide a recipe for JARLSBERG ® cheese, as to make JARLSBERG ® cheese requires the use of protected cultures owned by the manufacturer. instead, we provide below a recipe for making Norwegian Style cheese.
The detailed process of making this cheese has been considered a secret that the Norwegians have tried to keep under wraps and they only allow specially selected cheese facilities to produce their cheese. However, there has been sufficient evidence to develop a cheese that is a pretty good copy of the real McCoy.
Here are the considerations for making this cheese:
- The acidifying culture to use is quite similar to those used in the Gouda style cheese production. This is not a Thermophilic culture as listed in other Jarlsberg guidelines but is an aromatic style culture such as the MM100 or Flora Danica.
- The cheese has an additional culture added to produce gas internally (Propionic) which produces the gas holes that make it look like a Swiss style cheese.
- The texture and higher moisture are developed by removing some of the whey (lactose) and adding back a limited amount of warm water (washed curd). This accomplishes 2 things:
- It slows the acid production to produce a less acid cheese.
- It dries the curd out a little more as it heats the curds.
- The acid development must be slow and not very extensive at the time the whey is removed and the cheese is formed. This will preserve the calcium in the curd and hence an elastic texture in the cheese.
- The final molded cheese before salt must be much less acid than most other cheeses because the Propionic bacteria does not develop well in an acid condition. The salt must also be reduced to encourage the Propionic bacteria.
- The aging of the cheese is in 3 phases:
- A cool ripening phase shortly after the salting is finished to develop the initial protein development. This will enhance the elasticity of the curd.
- A warm room phase to allow the Propionic bacteria to produce gas and develop the internal holes.
- The final cool room phase to finish the flavor and texture development in the final cheese.
- The cheese will also ripen much earlier than a true Alpine style cheese. It will be ready for the table in about 3-4 months.
Jarlsberg® Cheese FAQs
Milk Use
Q: May I use whole milk or is it better to use low fat milk?
A: We might suggest a combo of 2-2.5% fat milk mixed with whole milk. Too much fat may interfere with the elastic texture development that is important to trapping the gas.
Yield
Q: Can this recipe be halved? I only have a 10 liter pot.
A: You could try by scaling down ingredients to suit the milk supply but the cheese would be quite small. Results may be quite variable.
Aging
Q: I'm on week 1 of warm aging and the cheese surface is fairly sticky. Is this expected? Should I decrease the humidity for a bit?
A: This is the result of ambient yeast working on the surface. This needs
to be controlled. From post brine instructions on the guideline page:
"... more traditional option is to develop a natural rind. This is simply done by brushing the cheese and wiping with a light salt brine to keep the molds away. This will need to be done daily initially but less frequently as the cheese rind dries down a little."
Q: My cheese has a sweat smell like apricot. Is it normal?
A: Sweet Fruit is more of a smell from yeast growth and not what I would expect on Jarlsberg. However the Propionic does contribute a sweet smell but more of a dairy smell, and not fruit.
Q: I made a Jarlsberg. I'm on day 7 first phase at 11-12°c have it in my cheese fridge that is set at 80- 85 humidity so have been keeping it in a container to stay more humid. Have been wiping the mold of with light brine solution most days but missed yesterday as was busy. But today the mold has changed from just the white mold to a red and brown mold and is hard to wipe it all away as appears to be stuck in the surface. Is this OK or should I be more aggressive and scratch it off with a knife or is it supposed to develop this on the surface?
A: This mold is an indication that the curd was too moist going into the mold and as a result has developed the colored slime molds, more typical of washed rinds. This could also be intensified by not drying the surface well after each brine wash.
Q: I waxed this cheese. When I brought it out for Stage 2, room-temp period, it started piddling all over itself (pinhole in wax, both sides). I pulled the wax off, rested it for two days to dry a bit more, and re-waxed the snot out of it. The wax was very much adhered to the cheese. Air pockets developed at about 2nd day (I presume from happy mold exhaling in exhilaration of so fine a food they have). It’s now been about a week and it is not bulging at the sides as much as top and bottom and there’s a fair amount of water under the wax. The wax is holding. Is this a cause for concern? Should I launch an invasion to rescue the cheese from hostile forces?
A: Unfortunately that hostile camp has reinforced and the battle has begun. What is happening is the the curds were too moist going to press and that residual whey(which is leaking now) has been the food for a renewed fermentation.
Also I never wax the cheese before the warm aging is done. I wait until it’s ready for the final cool aging. Not sure much can be done at this point to save it but you could keep it around to see where it goes.