You Want To Learn How To Make Swiss Cheese!

If you like cheese, sooner or later you might consider making your own cheese. You may know some basics of cheesemaking, or maybe you know absolutely nothing about making cheese, but you can learn how to make swiss cheese – it isn't that difficult! Let us dip into swiss cheese making, albeit briefly.

Probably the most recognizable cheese is Swiss cheese. That's because of the holes that are all through the cheese. You can learn how to make swiss cheese with holes – the holes develop naturally from the carbon dioxide in the cheese (from the bacteria making the cheese) as it becomes solid. The bacteria are also what gives the cheese its sharp tangy flavor.

Many of the tools you'll need are things you already have around the house. Pots, measuring cups, a knife and a whisk....they're already in your kitchen. You've also got bowls, spoons, and a stove and refrigerator/freezer. Maybe even a ladle. But some of the tools you need if you are going to learn how to make swiss cheese are not so common: a candy thermometer, a cheese hoop, a drying board...less common in our kitchens today. As for the other ingredients: milk, fresh yogurt, salt, water...those are easy. When you learn how to make swiss cheese you learn you also need junket rennet and a bit of Propionibacterium shermanii Culture. Got those on hand? Didn't think so.

Fortunately for you, who wants to learn how to make swiss cheese, the ingredients for making cheese – even swiss cheese – are easily available in a “cheesemaking kit.” You can find these kits online or in specialty kitchen stores.

Got The Stuff, Now What?

Once you have everything you need to make swiss cheese, how do you begin? More in depth steps will come with your “how to make swiss cheese” kit, but here are the basics.

First, heat the milk on the stove until it is 95 degrees Fahrenheit. Add in the yogurt and the culture to a little of the milk, then mix it back into the rest of the milk. Take it off the stove and let it rest for twenty minutes.

Next, put a bit of water into another mixing bowl and add the rennet. Dissolve it thoroughly. Pour this mixture back into the milk and mix slowly. Cover it with a cloth and leave it alone for a half an hour. At that point, the milk should have become curds and whey.

Next using the knife, cut the curds into pieces about 1/8 inch square. Then put the pot back on the head to cook more. See if squeezing a handful of curds results in them crumbling and breaking apart. If so, pour the mixture through a cloth over a strainer, so that the whey strains through and the curds are caught in the cloth. Wrap the cloth so that curds are in a ball. Use a cheese hoop to press the cheese.

Then comes a lengthy process of soaking the cheese in saltwater. This is continued overnight. The cheese then goes onto the drying board in the refrigerator. The salt water cloths are very important as you learn how to make swiss cheese. After 45 days of the procedures, the cheese will be puffy and have holes from the bacteria.

The cheese isn't finished yet. It still needs from 4 months to a year to finish, and the longer it is left, the deeper the flavor will be.