Bohinjski Sir

Bohinjski Sir (Alpine Cow's-Milk Cheese)

A traditional Slovenian pressed, semi-hard cow's-milk cheese from the high pastures of the Bohinj valley, made only during the summer alpine season. The milk is pasteurised before ripening and the wheels are aged a minimum of 60 days on wooden boards, which develops the characteristic firm texture and piquant, herb-laced flavor.

Prep

90 min

Cook

120 min

Total

210 min

Serves

makes 2 wheels of approx. 2.5 kg each

Difficulty

Hard

Recipe ingredients

• •20 L (5¼ gal) whole cow's milk (fresh, not UHT), pasteurised - or raw milk pasteurised at home in step 1; never use ultra-pasteurised (UHT) milk, which will not set properly
• •500 ml (2 cups) natural whey starter (kulture), from the previous day's cheesemaking on pasteurised milk, or prepared by ripening fresh pasteurised whey at 30–32°C for 18–24 hours; a commercial thermophilic culture, dosed per the manufacturer's instructions, is a reliable substitute
• •2.5 ml (½ tsp) liquid calf rennet, diluted in 60 ml cool non-chlorinated water; traditionalists use a piece of dried calf stomach
• •1 kg (2¼ lb) coarse sea salt, for dry-salting the rind and brining
• •250 g (8¾ oz) additional sea salt, for the brine

Steps

1. 1 Pasteurise the milk before anything else: heat it slowly in the copper-lined vat to 63°C (145°F), hold it exactly at that temperature for 30 minutes, then cool it back to 32°C (90°F) - an ice bath around the vat works. If you are starting from fresh pasteurised milk, simply bring it to 32°C (90°F) over gentle heat. Do not skip this step: pasteurising the milk first is what makes this cheese safe to make and age at home, and the cultures added from here on build the flavor back.
2. 2 Stir in 500 ml of ripened natural whey starter and let the milk ripen for 30–40 minutes, until a clean break forms on a hot-iron test.
3. 3 Dilute the rennet in 60 ml of cool, non-chlorinated water and stir it into the milk with an up-and-down motion for 1 minute. Cover and let set undisturbed for 35–45 minutes, until you get a firm, clean break.
4. 4 Cut the curd into roughly 1 cm cubes with a long knife, then let it rest 5 minutes. Slowly raise the temperature to 40–42°C (104–108°F) over 30 minutes while gently stirring, cooking out moisture. Maintain for a further 15–20 minutes until the curds feel firm and rubbery when pressed between the fingers.
5. 5 Drain off about two-thirds of the whey, then ladle the curd into cloth-lined round molds (traditionally 28–30 cm diameter). Press at 5 kg for 30 minutes, then flip the wheel, redress, and press at 10 kg for 12 hours.
6. 6 Unmold the wheels the next day and dry-salt the surface: rub coarse sea salt evenly over rind and sides. Repeat salting once a day for 3–4 days, turning the wheels each time, until the rind feels firm and leathery.
7. 7 After the initial dry-salting, submerge the wheels in a saturated cold brine (250 g sea salt per litre of water) at 12–14°C for 24–48 hours to equalize moisture and salt.
8. 8 Air-dry the wheels on wooden boards in a cool cellar at 12–15°C with 85–90% humidity for 3–5 days, until the rind is dry to the touch and a thin natural smear develops.
9. 9 Age the wheels on untreated spruce or larch wooden boards in a cellar at 12–14°C and 85–90% humidity for a minimum of 60 days, turning and wiping them every 2–3 days. This 60-day floor is a strict safety rule, not a style preference: no wheel, plain or smoked, is to be cut, tasted or eaten before 60 days is complete. For the deeper, piquant flavor prized by Slovenian affineurs, age 6 months or longer.
10. 10 Optional, for the traditional Bohinj smoked variant: cold-smoke the wheels for 12–24 hours over juniper or beech wood - but only once a wheel has completed the full 60-day minimum aging above, never earlier.
11. 11 Doneness cue for the finished cheese: the paste should be pale ivory to light straw, semi-firm to firm, with small mechanical holes ('eyes'); the rind should be thin, smooth, and grey-brown. Cut a small wedge - the interior should smell clean, slightly nutty, and herbaceous, never ammoniac or putrid. If in doubt, do not eat.