Author Topic: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese  (Read 12744 times)

SouthernCheese

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Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« on: October 20, 2013, 01:21:43 PM »
Just sharing this blog post in the event that it is interesting and helpful to others. I know there are lots of folks here with wonderful knowledge but this may be interesting to some of you:

http://naturesharmonyfarm.com/make-cheese-gruyere-alpine-style/

jwalker

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #1 on: October 20, 2013, 02:44:13 PM »
Thanks for that link , great info there.
One of the problems I have had with the milk I get locally , is that the curds tend to break apart easily and I end up with very small curd , looks like this would be a good cheese for dealing with that problem , I will try a few next week.

I wonder how this type of cheese develops if you wax it rather than wash the rind , the only reason I ask is that I am away from home a lot when working and just am not available to to it on a regular basis.(Don't you just hate work ?! >:D)

I'll be trying one next week.

Thanks , great post.

linuxboy

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #2 on: October 20, 2013, 02:49:33 PM »
Tim, have you thought about using a whey starter system?

SouthernCheese

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #3 on: October 20, 2013, 03:09:54 PM »
Tim, have you thought about using a whey starter system?
I haven't, as I make a number of cheeses and may not repeat a Fortsonia (Alpine) make for several weeks. Would a whey starter system work? Can you explain how I could use it in a rotation of cheddar, Alpine, blue, etc?

Thanks for the tip!

SouthernCheese

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #4 on: October 20, 2013, 03:12:40 PM »
I wonder how this type of cheese develops if you wax it rather than wash the rind , the only reason I ask is that I am away from home a lot when working and just am not available to to it on a regular basis.(Don't you just hate work ?! >:D)
Oh you could do it and it would make cheese, of course. It just would miss an important characteristic of an Alpine cheese, which is a natural rind of bacteria, yeasts and molds that protects the cheese while still allowing it to "breath". Of course, the rind flora will contribute to the taste/texture of the cheese and that will be absent with the wax. Still, you'll come up with your own masterpiece. Just as the Alpine cheesemakers had to deal with their limitations, you have to deal with yours. Namely, work!

mjr522

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #5 on: October 20, 2013, 03:20:57 PM »
I appreciated the post, too.  Thanks!

Offline Boofer

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #6 on: October 20, 2013, 04:33:17 PM »
It just would miss an important characteristic of an Alpine cheese, which is a natural rind of bacteria, yeasts and molds that protects the cheese while still allowing it to "breath". Of course, the rind flora will contribute to the taste/texture of the cheese and that will be absent with the wax.
I've come upon a compromise of sorts. By letting a hard cheese (I love Beaufort.) develop a "cultured" rind, it has a chance to develop additional flavor and character. Then I will cream-coat it to protect it and still allow it to breathe and exchange gases. That has worked well for me.

At some point during the affinage, I will further protect the cream-coated cheese by vacuum-sealing it. I realize that this curtails any future exchange of gases, but as I said, it's a compromise.

Thanks for that link. Nice.

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Tomer1

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #7 on: October 20, 2013, 08:50:23 PM »
Lovely blog,  thank you!

Offline Gürkan Yeniçeri

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #8 on: October 20, 2013, 08:54:33 PM »
Bookmarked already. Thanks Tim.

Pete S

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #9 on: October 21, 2013, 12:25:31 AM »
    How long do you let the culture ripen before you rennet ---Pete

SouthernCheese

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #10 on: October 21, 2013, 11:47:32 AM »
one hour

Alpkäserei

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #11 on: October 22, 2013, 03:20:08 AM »
Hello,

when passing along a whey culture, this needs to be used the next day, or if prepared differently it can be a 2-day culture instead. however, 2-day cultures are less safe and less controllable and today in Switzerland, farmers are discouraged from using them.

You can, however, take a bit of whey and freeze it, then use this to make a new mother culture. Use the whey as a culture to make yogurt, somewhere you can find I have a post here about whey cultures and how we do them.

You would need about 1 liter of whey culture (Sirtenkultur, in Switzerland) for every 100 to 150 liters of milk (precision with the culture is not that important, unlike rennet) or if you make yogurt, about 2 to 3 dl yogurt per 100 liter milk.

hope this answers the question about whey culture.


Also, I posted on your blog but I will say here too, I'd be glad to fill you in a little on the history and why it is Alpine cheeses are made the way they are. In some areas you are right, some you are part right, some, well, not so much. I like to see that our culture is understood, cheese is a very important part of our heritage, and the specifics as to why it is made the way it is and how are also important to who the people are.

I'd also be glad to fill in and show you how your methods compare to the traditional methods, you might be interested in comparing them (like many things, the New World method of making Gruyere is quite a bit different)


jwalker

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #12 on: November 03, 2013, 02:31:21 PM »
I made a four gallon wheel of this yesterday , i will start a post on it.

But i was wondering , when googling "Gruyere" , I noticed in some of the photos , the cheese had some good sized eyes in them.

Is that normal , or natural , or do some makers add Shermanii to it? :o

Was thinking of adding some to todays make , so if anyone has any info on it , let me know.

Pete S

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #13 on: November 03, 2013, 04:53:08 PM »
  It depends if you want to make old world style cheese or new world style. In old world style eyes were considered a defect.   Pete

Offline Boofer

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Re: Blog Post - How to make Gruyere/Alpine cheese
« Reply #14 on: November 04, 2013, 02:35:54 PM »
the cheese had some good sized eyes in them.

Is that normal , or natural , or do some makers add Shermanii to it? :o
PS is added to some alpines not with the intent to develop eyes, but to give the cheese that "alpine" character (propionic acid). Beaufort is one such style. Without the Warm Phase, the eyes are not encouraged to develop.

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