Good cheese is our passion
Our cheese making philosophy? Only the best cheeses deserve the Bergader seal. To guarantee this quality standard, we combine traditional craftsmanship with modern dairy technology using only the best ingredients. Milk is, of course, the most important element. We only use milk produced in our vicinity, in the Bavarian Alpine Forland. Twice a day, our contract farmers at Chiemgau, Berchtesgadener Land or Mangfalltal enter their barns to milk their cows. The first of a number of comprehensive quality control measures are already taken when the milk is picked up at the farm. Only if it fulfils all requirements, the milk may be used for further processing.
To create the mild and tender Bergader Mini brie, the creamy and aromatic Bavaria blu or the melt-in-the-mouth Bergader Cremosissimo, it takes accurate technology as well as the experience and skilfulness of our master cheese makers. Only our master cheese makers know how much rennet is needed for curdling the milk. And they make sure that the ripening cultures as well as the blue or white mould are added to the cheesemaking milk at exactly the right time. To this end, we use specific cultures to lend each of our cheeses its distinctive character. 3,500 litres of milk are then processed in a cheese vat, eventually producing some 350 kg of cheese.
Depending on the type of cheese to be made, the milk is enriched with lactic acid and our own mould cultures. At Bergader’s cheese dairy, our master cheese makers only use our own ripening cultures.
Rennet is used to curdle the milk in the cheese vat - the first step of cheese production. More precisely, it is the milk protein that curdles. Using the cheese harp, the master cheese makers cut the obtained substance manually into small pieces creating the curd. Bergader deliberately carries out this task without the use of machines. The timing of the cutting is vital for obtaining perfect cheese quality. Only experienced master cheese makers know when to start this process. No machine in the world can replace this combination of feeling, experience and knowledge.
By cutting the curd, the whey is separated from the solid elements of milk (protein, fat and lactose). And again it is up to the master cheese makers to decide when the curd has reached the right texture. They examine the curd by hand to find out whether the young cheese is ready for further processing. Only if the timing is right, the whey is removed, leaving the fresh cheese substance behind.
Yet the cheese-to-be still lacks a lot of the things that make it distinctive later on: its typical form, for example. To this end, the curd is filled into forms. Bergader has small and large, round and angular forms. Once the curd has been unified, the wheels are removed from the forms and inserted into a salt bath. This is an important step for rind formation and flavour.
The actual magic, however, happens during ripening. This is when the ripening cultures come in. They degrade milk fat and milk protein as well as lactose. During this process, the typical flavours of each cheese are created. Also the thin cover of white mould that many Bergader cheeses display develops during ripening. The preconditions for this are optimal temperature and humidity. Blue mould cheese is pierced at the beginning of the ripening process: Using fine skewers, the cheese substance is punctured allowing for oxygen to penetrate. This way, blue mould can develop.
Each type of cheese has its own optimal ripening conditions. Only under these conditions can delicious cheese flavours and creamy cheese paste be obtained. That’s what makes the cheese specialties of Bergader so unique. On that note: Enjoy sampling our cheeses!