Author Topic: My First Swiss  (Read 15795 times)

Offline Al Lewis

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My First Swiss
« on: November 30, 2012, 03:16:31 AM »
Decided I really had to do a Swiss as it's one of my all time favorite cheeses.  Here's the recipe I used.  I doubled the original recipe on everything but the propionic shermaii.  Courtesy of "Cultures for Health".

Ingredients:

4 gallons Fresh Milk
1 teaspoon Propionic Shermanii Culture, dissolved in ½ cup milk
1/4 teaspoon Direct-Set Thermophilic Culture
¼ Vegetable Rennet Tablet, dissolved in ½ cup cool water
2.25 pounds Sea Salt (non-iodized) or Cheese Salt
1 gallon Water

Instructions:

Heat your milk to 87°F.   Add  the thermophilic culture and stir well.  Add Propionic shermanii culture and stir for at least 1 minute.  Cover and allow to ferment for 15 minutes.

Check temperature and make sure milk is no warmer than 90°F.  Stir to homogenize the milk, and slowly fold in the diluted rennet.  Using an up-and-down motion with your spoon will ensure that the rennet works its way through all the milk, so you can get the highest possible yield.

Allow the cheese to set for 30-45 minutes at 90°F, or until the whey begins to separate from the curd.  You should see a layer of mostly clear whey floating on top of the curd, and the curd should be pulling away from the sides of your pot.

Using a long knife, cut the curds into 1/4 inch cubes.

Take your whisk and stir the curd, slicing it into small pieces.  The pieces should all be roughly the same size.

Keep the curds at 90°F and stir with your wooden spoon, working out the whey, for 35 minutes.

Over the next 25 minutes, slowly heat the curds to 120°F, stirring frequently with your wooden spoon.  As you stir, the curds will shrink.  Keep the curds at 120°F for 30 minutes.  The curds should be small, and if you bite one it should squeak in your teeth.  A handful of curds, squeezed into a ball, should fall apart in your hands.
Pour the curds into a press lined with cheesecloth.  Work quickly; you do not want your curds to cool.  Press at 10 pounds of pressure for 15 minutes.

Using a fresh piece of cheesecloth, flip the cheese and press, again, at 15 pounds of pressure for 30 minutes.

Repeat this process again, at 15 pounds of pressure for 2 hours, rinsing your cheesecloth in clean, cool water each time and hanging to dry.

Finally, press at 20 pounds of pressure for 12 hours, or overnight.

Mix two pounds of sea salt with 1 gallon of cold water to make a brine.  Place the cheese in the brine and let it soak for 24 hours.

Take the cheese out of the brine and age at 55-60°F for one week.  Flip and wipe daily with a damp cheesecloth dipped in salt water. 

Age the cheese in the kitchen (or another warm room) for 2-3 weeks.  Flip and wipe daily with a damp cheesecloth dipped in salt water.  The cheese should swell and will smell “Swiss-ey”. 

Place the cheese back in your aging fridge (or cheese cave) for 12 weeks or more (click here for practical methods for aging cheese).  Flip once or twice a week and remove mold with a cheesecloth dipped in salt water.
« Last Edit: February 20, 2013, 03:26:03 AM by Al Lewis »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #1 on: November 30, 2012, 03:21:22 AM »
Okay, so I'm up to the point where I have to take the cheese out of the cave so the Propionic Shermanii can create the bubbles necessary for the holes.  Here is a picture of the cheese just out of the cave.  It is currently 2 inches high.  I will post future pictures of the swelling as it occurs.
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Offline H-K-J

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #2 on: November 30, 2012, 03:52:24 AM »
AL, I;m not sure but the mechanical holes are not a plus .
I do hope it swells more than the one I am babying
Aint these fun? ;)
How strong of brine are you using and for how long. 
are you going to use a wine/ salt brine as a wash?
« Last Edit: November 30, 2012, 03:58:48 AM by H-K-J »
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #3 on: November 30, 2012, 04:40:31 AM »
I used the brine wipe for the week it was in the cave, daily, but expect it will not need it at 70F as I expect to experience the same conditions I did with the Jarlsberg.  The other side is very smooth as the depressions on this side were caused by the cheese cloth.  Here's a shot of the smooth side when it was in the brine.  In addition, I did the first two 15 minute pressings submerged under the 120 degree whey so I suspect the openings on the sides are superficial and do not extend into the interior of the cheese. The brine consisted of 1 gallon of water, 2.25 pounds of salt, 1 tablespoon of white vinegar, and 1 tablespoon of CaCl and it remained in the brine for 24 hours.  Hoping this one blows up like a ballon.  ;D
« Last Edit: November 30, 2012, 04:55:20 AM by Al Lewis »
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Offline H-K-J

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #4 on: November 30, 2012, 03:02:14 PM »
Oh yes that looks much smoother :)
Quote
1 teaspoon Propionic Shermanii Culture, dissolved in ½ cup milk

I'm sayin, with that much PS it should blow UP :o
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #5 on: November 30, 2012, 03:11:22 PM »
That's the plan.  >:D  After reading about everyone being dissappointed in how much their Swiss and Jarlsberg were swelling I decided to just double the recipe and stick with the teaspoon of of propionic shermaii.  Seemed like plenty for 4 gallons of milk but would be a little excessive for 2.  Anyway, I have great expectations for this cheese.  We'll see what happens.  :o 
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Mighty Mouse

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #6 on: November 30, 2012, 04:48:44 PM »
That's the plan.  >:D  After reading about everyone being dissappointed in how much their Swiss and Jarlsberg were swelling I decided to just double the recipe and stick with the teaspoon of of propionic shermaii.  Seemed like plenty for 4 gallons of milk but would be a little excessive for 2.  Anyway, I have great expectations for this cheese.  We'll see what happens.  :o

lol, I can't wait to find out how that goes. If the cheese explodes or something, I want to see pictures! Very cool make! I can't wait to hear how it turns out!

Offline Boofer

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #7 on: November 30, 2012, 11:55:10 PM »
A couple of observations...

One teaspoon of PS for 4 gallons milk sounds like a Ricki Carroll recipe. I hope it doesn't prove to have too much propionic acid. Very distinct flavor.

The other point is the level of salt in your brine and the time you kept it in the brine. PS doesn't like too much salt. Swiss is normally lower in salt than other cheese styles.

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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #8 on: December 01, 2012, 12:37:38 AM »
Well we'll have to wait and see how it turns out now as it's all done bar the swelling. LOL ;D
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #9 on: December 01, 2012, 07:56:40 AM »
Just checking on this cheese tonight and it smells incredible.
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Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #10 on: December 05, 2012, 02:38:01 AM »
Well still no swelling whatsoever.  Seems like I should have noticed something but notta.   :-\
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bbracken677

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #11 on: December 05, 2012, 02:45:53 AM »
Does it smell swissy?

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #12 on: December 05, 2012, 02:49:27 AM »
Don't know about Swissy but it does smell incredibly good.  I thought that with the amount of p shermanii I put in it it would be a ball by now. LOL
« Last Edit: December 05, 2012, 03:08:44 AM by Al Lewis »
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george

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #13 on: December 05, 2012, 10:36:25 AM »
If there are mechanical holes inside as well, then it may just be filling those spaces up and it doesn't need to swell.  (At least that's my hopeful theory on a baby Swiss that I messed up on the press - it's got another few weeks to age before I find out.)  So that may be part of it.  The other part of it is that, ummmm, it's only been a few days at warm there, guy - give it time!   ^-^

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: My First Swiss
« Reply #14 on: December 07, 2012, 01:32:10 AM »
Okay, I noticed tonight that the edges on the side that was up last night had rounded out and the top was starting to crown.  I have coated it with olive oil and turned it and re-dressed it with a light coat again tonight. ;D
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