Many years ago we received an anonymous request from one of our customers:
I found your website and I am wondering if you have a recipe for a Norwegian cheese my Grandmother used to make. My mother said it was called Prim-ost, a light beige in color and very sweet. She thinks it was made of milk with rennet? I would be very interested in the recipe.
Our response in the “Customers Looking for Recipes” section was as follows:
This response sat undisputed on our website for years until we recently received this note from Louise Kent in Denmark:
I just read your Q and A on Prim-ost! The answer you gave is not quite correct!I am from Denmark and my grandmother was Norwegian. Prim-ost is a Norwegian cheese, as well as Myseost. But Myseost is a hard cheese and Prim-ost is a cream cheese. It is not the same. Prim-ost is sweeter than Myseost. Myseost can be bought in different types. The mildest one is made from cream, the middle one is half cow milk and half goat milk, and the strongest one is all goat milk.
Just wanted to tell you because I’m a big enthusiast when it comes to this Norwegian specialty.
Part 2 – About Mysost
Mysost is a Norwegian cheese made from caramelized cow’s milk whey, often the whey left over after making traditional curd cheese. When made with goat’s whey, the cheese is called gjetost. They are unusual–not what you’d necessarily expect when someone tells you they are serving you cheese. Both cheeses are smooth, sweet, sour, salty, slightly brown–and deliciously different.
The recipe calls for only two ingredients. We purchased a couple of quarts of whey from our dairy farmer, combined it with a little cream, and put it on to heat. (If you prefer, you can make it with only whey, although your cheese will be slightly grainier.) You can certainly use your own whey–that made after draining yogurt to make yogurt cheese will even work. I don’t think it is particularly easy to find commercial whey, however.
We brought the whey up to a full boil then turned down the heat a bit. After several hours (4 for us, but sometimes as much as 12 hours) at a gentle boil, the whey had reduced to a fudge-like consistency. After beating it severely, we cooled it in its pan over a bowl of iced water and poured it into a little buttered glass bowl.
Mellowing in the refrigerator for 24 hours helps the flavor of mysost. But I couldn’t wait:
Part 3 – About Gjetost
Last summer I helped in the kitchen of a local retreat center when they were hosting a Sons of Norway Norwegian camp. It was there I tasted a goat cheese called Gjetost. There are different spellings as well as names for this cheese. The Norwegians place it on bread (just a very thin slice) along with raspberry jam, and it was delicious! I determined then and there I was going to learn how to make it.
The lady that introduced me to it stated that the process needed both goat and cow milk, but I have since discovered there are three cheeses that can be made: whey from just goat milk, a combination of goat and cow milk whey, and whey from only cow milk. Our goats are dry now, so I will use cow milk until our goats are milked again in the spring.
I found a recipe on the Fankhauser cheese website, but it seemed hard to follow. About a year ago I purchased Ricki Carroll’s book, Home Cheese Making, and found the recipe in there. I had lots of questions after reading her recipe, but forged ahead and made a batch.
Mysost (another name is Primost) is the result of taking the whey byproduct from making cheese and slowly boiling it down to where it caramelizes and thickens. Cream is added towards the end of the process, but that’s all there is to the ingredients. This whole process has taken me from 6 to 12 hours. I can see why it’s recommended that a wood cookstove be used instead of a conventional stove top — that’s a lot of electricity!
The first time I made a batch the end result was grainy, but that has only happened one other time and I think I’ve cooked up 5 batches. Each batch has given us approximately 30 ounces out of about 7 quarts of whey. Jim, Peter and I enjoy it on toast for breakfast, along with our homemade raspberry jam. It’s easy to make if you have the time to spend in the kitchen close to the stove.
Part 4 – More about Whey Cheeses
All this inspired us to do some further research about these cheeses:
Apparently, in 1863, a 17 year old home cheese maker in Norway had the idea of adding cream to whey, bringing it to a boil and reducing it into cheese. She created a brown cheese which everybody liked.
She was able to sell it and it is actually said to have saved her valley financially in the 1880’s. When she was 87, in 1933, the King of Norway gave her a medal for her invention. To this day, 25% of the cheese consumed in Norway is Brunost (brown cheese).
Through the years, many variations of her cheese were developed, including:
Ski Queen brand Gjetost – Made from half cow’s milk, half goat’s milk. This is the mild form most of us have tried here in the U.S.
Prim – Made from cow’s milk with sugar added. This is boiled for less time than all other kinds.
Ekte Gjetost (real Gjetost) – Made from goat’s whey. This has a darker color and richer flavor than Ski Queen brand Gjetost.
Flotemysost – Made from cow’s milk whey, enriched with cow’s milk cream.
Gudbrandsdalsost – Made from both cow’s and goat’s milk (10 to 12 % goat’s milk). This is the most popular form in Norway.
Mysost – Made from all cow’s milk whey. In Norwegian, “myse” means “whey” and “ost” means “cheese.”
In our book, Home Cheese Making, there is a recipe for Mysost (p.150) and a recipe for Gjetost (p.151). We think Prim-ost is made the same as Mysost, but boiled for less time so that it remains spreadable. If anyone has an actual recipe for Prim-ost, please share it with us. We do love our brown cheese!
Daniel Nebdal says
There’s some understandable confusion with the naming here, that I *think* I can clear up a bit.
The oldest product is the spreadable one you get by reducing and caramellizing whey alone. It’s been varyingly known as “prim” and “myseost” (whey-cheese) and “messmør” (whey-butter).
In the late 1800s, Anne Hov semi-famously added cream to the whey first, and boiled it down a bit further, making what she first called “fetost” (fat[ty] cheese), though that name seems to have died out. In Norwegian the category is now known as “brunost” (brown cheese), with “gjetost/geitost” (goat cheese, in archaic/modern spelling) being specifically brunost made from goat milk.
In current use, “prim” (messmör, if you’re Swedish) is just brunost that was taken off the boil earlier – so there’s cream in it, and often some sugar. I don’t think you can find much of the whey-only product for sale anymore, if any. (Another common modern addition to prim is vanilla, which is worth trying.)
Janice says
I never heard of brown cheese but decided to use my whey from 1/2 goat 1/2 cow feta that I made today. Wow! This cheese is great. It took about 8 hrs to caramelize but my hot plate has thermostat setting which maintains heat exactly; thus I did not have to stand & stir all day. I did pay close attention & stir for last 30 minutes. I had only about 1/3 c cream in house so mixed that with evaporated milk.
I’ll definitely be making Gjetost again. Thanks for wonderful recipe.
tree says
i just made a batch of mozzarella from a gallon of raw milk and then used the whey to make ricotta. Can i use the whey left over from the ricotta to make this?
Jeri Case says
That’s a good question. You must have made a lot of ricotta if you have enough whey to make Gjetost! It would be best to email our technical advisor, Jim Wallace, who answers all questions- info@cheesemaking.com.
I made a batch of ricotta from 2L of full cream milk and had a little over 1L of whey left over so I tried this out and it worked! It’s a lot paler than the brunost I enjoyed in Norway and only took around 2 hours to boil down, I added some cream at the end and it’s lovely. I had heard that you couldn’t use the whey leftover from making ricotta because of the added vinegar (I use half vinegar half verjuice as a milder acidulant) and it hasn’t seemed to ruin the flavour. Next time I’m going to try to make the brunost in the Thermomix.
One of my favorite treats when I was young was mysost, when my mother made it from scratch. That wasn’t often, as whey was only available when my mother made skyr. I searched for a long time for a recipe from my Icelandic friends in Manitoba and found this one which has ingredients which are easy to find, and it’s easy to make: You require two cups of whey powder, available at any bulk food or health food store. Also 1 1/2 cup of Carnation condensed milk, two cups of brown sugar, 1/2 cup of butter. Cook one hour in a double boiler, then beat until cool and creamy (in a basin of cold water with ice). If you beat it too long it will become grainy. Enjoy
Thanks so much for sharing that. It sounds yummy!
Thanks for sharing that with everyone. Happy cheese making!
Jeri, thanks for the contact.
I thought I'd share some of Jim's helpful answers to my email.
Fresh whey is best because the lactic acid bacteria that made our cheese delicious are still at work on the lactose left in the whey. Whey at a pH above 5.8 makes the best cheese – so either use it quickly – or heat treat it to stop the bacterial action.
I've now made 2 successful batches where I have stopped the cooking overnight.
Any type of whey works – but the results are a little different. Mysost or myesost from a soft cheese with only one drop of rennet to 1 gallon of milk makes a white cheese.
The use of an immersion blender and adding cream near the end of cooking reduce the graininess significantly.
Scorching the cheese gives it a very unpleasant taste, be careful!
Kendy,
We have a technical advisor, Jim Wallace, who answers all questions- jim@cheesemaking.com. Just copy your comment to him and he will promptly answer. I know he is also working on an article for our website about whey and it's uses. When that is posted, you will see the link to it in our Moosletter. Happy cheese making!
I've been trying Mysost from the Home Cheese Making directions. Sometimes I just don't get things that are obvious to everyone else.
I'm unclear about what whey to use – can this be made with the whey left from Ricotta? Or is the coagulated Albumin the basis for this cheese?
Since whey bought from a farmer was used in the blog, can I assume that the "rule" that the whey should be no older than 3 hours does not apply?
Why do so many whey cheeses call for extremely fresh whey? What happens to the whay as it stands?
Chris,
Let us know when you post it!
I am just getting into cheese making AGAIN. I think I will have to start all over, it's been 30 years. BUT . . . .
I do remember making the Mysost. I used a crock pot to evaporate most of the water, then as it got thicker I transferred it to a stainless skillet for the final reduction. I did ad pecans and took it to the slicing consistency. We all love the stuff. I will be putting a photo play by play when I make my next cheese and will include the Mysost. It will be on my blog http://hehooluvstocook.blogspot.com/ look for it in a week or two.
My Mysost came out grainy,I used cream, but not rennet whey but whey made with citric acid and yoghurt can that be the reason it was grainy?
thank you in advance
Yes. It’s important to use rennet whey. Let us know how it comes out next time you try it:)
Thank you so much for your reply. Will do it with rennet.
annapoorna sitaram
That's very interesting. I didn't know that. Thanks again for the good info!
I usually take up notice of how to make the foods I like!
One other note; whey can purchased from most feed mills. Most stock a product called Sweet Edible Grade Whey. Don't let the fact they use it in animal feeds deter you from trying it. A good mill manager will sell it to you by the pound and it can be used to make the cheeses talked about here. This is a dry from of whey but it can be reconstituted and boiled down just like the liquid whey.
Good luck and good eating,
K,
Thank you! It sounds like you come from a long line of good cooks…
I will relate to you what my parents taught me about Primost. It is made from cows milk. My grandparents made theirs from the left over whey after churning cream into butter, but I expect any whey could be used. Boil the whey until it turns the color brown you want. Also, the lighter the color the more spreadable it is. Boiling it for longer produces a hard cheese. When almost done you can add salt or sugar or cream depending on your tastes. The cheese without the cream gets a little grainy. Using salt is in keeping with most other cheeses. Sugar was not used commonly quite simply since it was expensive. When you get the color and consistency you want, then let it cool and pack it in whatever container you want to keep it in. Letting it age in the refridgerator for a week or so greatly improves its taste. It is simple to make although it does take some time.
Good luck and good eating,
After making my first ever batch of cheese, I wondered what to do with the whey, since I hated to throw it out. Thank you so much for the very helpful information!
We just made our first cheese from raw cow's milk, which we heated to 190 degrees and cooled before making the cheese. We saved the whey because we just could not bring ourselves to throw it out– thank you so much for answers about what to do with the whey! We will try it in bread and boil some down, too. Thanks!!
Thanks, Jeri, for including my post in your blog entry. Cheese making is such a challenge! I'm looking forward to reading more of your articles.