Swiss cheese

Swiss cheese, in U.S. identity, is the eyed wheel — also named emmentaler. 21 CFR 133.195: holes or eyes throughout; minimum milkfat 43 percent by weight of the solids; maximum moisture 41 percent; at least 60 days old ¹. Dairy ingredients may be pasteurized. The cultures are lactic acid-producing and propionic acid-producing bacteria. Propionic fermentation is why the eyes form; it is not a second cheddar.

The make in the standard: set, cut to wheat-kernel size, stir and settle about 30 minutes, raise to about 126 °F until the curd is firm, whey acidity not more than 0.13 percent as lactic acid, hoop and press, brine about 3 days, hold about 50–60 °F for 5–10 days, then about 75 °F until roughly 30 days old or until the eyes form, then cooler storage to finish the 60-day floor ¹. Those temperatures are the identity’s procedure, not a home-cave schedule you should invent around. FAO still supplies the four-stage skeleton — coagulate, drain, salt, ripen ².

Eyes are gas trapped in a plastic paste. Blind cheese (no eyes) or collapsed eyes are make and room problems, not “needs more time” as a slogan. See Cheese cultures, Fermentation, and Affinage.

What to notice #

A clean eye is round, not a slit from a broken paste. Flavor is nutty-lactic, not sharp cheddar. Moisture and fat floors are why a wet, undercooked curd will not become this cheese by aging. Return to Cheese.