CHARACTERISTICS AND DESCRIPTION OF VORARLBERGER-BERGKASE .2. APPEARANCE AND TEXTURE PROPERTIES

141 samples of ready-to-sale Vorarlberger Bergkase ripened for at leas t 6 months were collected within one year and investigated with respec t to appearance and texture properties. The yellowness of the cheese m ass varied with the production period, and a more intense colour was e vident in cheeses produced during summer. As compared to an optimum of 3-5 eyes/dm(2), relatively high amounts of summer cheeses without eye s as well as high amounts of winter cheeses with an excessive number o f eyes were observed. Apart from effects related to cheese age, summer cheeses mainly produced on alp sites showed significantly lower value s for stress and strain at apparent fracture indicating a softer, more tender and less elastic cheese body than winter cheeses produced in v alley plants.