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RECIPE: HOMEMADE SWISS CHEESE

Recipe: Homemade Swiss Cheese

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Swiss cheese is well known for its pockets of air, created during the culturing process by the active propionibacteria.


30 minutes

48 minutes

4



INGREDIENTS AND EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE AT CULTURES FOR HEALTH

Fresh Cheese Making Kit

Cheese Fresh Cheese Making Kit

Fresh Cheese Making Kit

$45.99

Our most comprehensive choice, the Fresh Cheese Kit contains two starter cultures and supplies to make five different varieties of soft cheese - feta, cottage cheese, cream cheese, fromage blanc, and traditional quark. Kit contains a Mesophilic Cheese Culture, a Fresh Cheese Culture, calcium chloride, vegetable rennet, cheese salt, butter muslin, a thermometer, and an instruction and recipe booklet.

Packaging and Equipment in the kit may appear different than pictured.


Propionibacteria Cheese Starter Culture


Thermophilic Starter Culture

Cheese Thermophilic Direct-Set Starter Culture

Thermophilic Starter Culture

$12.99

This useful culture makes a variety of hard cheeses, including parmesan, romano, provolone, and swiss.


Thermophilic B Culture


Liquid Animal Rennet

Cheese Liquid Animal Rennet

Liquid Animal Rennet

$12.99

High quality single strength animal rennet. This non-GMO animal rennet is preferred for aged cheese as it creates a more desirable flavor and aroma during the aging process. Each bottle contains enough rennet to set (12) 2-gallon batches of cheese.


Vegetable Rennet Tablets

Cheese Vegetable Rennet Tablets

Vegetable Rennet Tablets

$7.99

Rennet tablets are used to coagulate dairy products, usually for cheesemaking. Each pack of vegetable rennet tablets will set approximately (20) 2-gallon batches of cheese. Store rennet tabs in the freezer between batches, and they'll keep for up to 3 years.


Stick On Thermometer Strip

Cheese, Kefir, Kombucha, Sourdough, Tempeh & Soy, Vegetables, Yogurt Stick-On Thermometer Strip

Stick On Thermometer Strip

$1.99

A stick on thermometer is a hassle-free way to keep an eye on the temperature of your ferments. Apply a thermometer sticker to your kombucha fermentation bottle or your yogurt culturing container and always know that you're within the safe range.

Strip thermometers are flexible, unbreakable, and self-adhesive for easy use.


Cheesecloth

1 Square Yard Cheesecloth

Cheesecloth

$7.99

A looser weave than our butter muslin, this 100% cotton cheesecloth is great for wrapping cheeses and draining whey from all sorts of cultured foods.






EQUIPMENT:

INGREDIENTS:

INSTRUCTIONS:

  1. Heat the milk to 87°F. Add the thermophilic culture and stir well. Add propionibacteria and stir for at least 1 minute. Cover and allow to ferment for 15 minutes.
  2. 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.
  3. Allow the cheese to set for 30 to 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 the pot.
  4. Using a long knife, cut the curds into 1/4-inch cubes.
  5. Stir the curd with a whisk, slicing it into small pieces. The pieces should all be roughly the same size.
  6. Keep the curds at 90°F and stir with the wooden spoon, working out the whey, for 35 minutes.
  7. 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.
  8. Pour the curds-and-whey through a strainer, capturing the whey in a bowl to save for future projects (or you can discard it).
  9. 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.
  10. Using a fresh piece of cheesecloth, flip the cheese and press, again, at 15 pounds of pressure for 30 minutes.
  11. Repeat this process again, at 15 pounds of pressure for 2 hours, rinsing the cheesecloth in clean, cool water each time and hanging to dry.
  12. Finally, press at 20 pounds of pressure for 12 hours, or overnight.
  13. Mix 2 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.
  14. Take the cheese out of the brine and age at 55° to 60°F for one week. Flip and wipe daily with a damp cheesecloth dipped in salt water.
  15. Age the cheese in the kitchen (or another warm room) for 2 to 3 weeks. Flip and wipe daily with a damp cheesecloth dipped in salt water. The cheese should swell and will have a characteristic Swiss cheese smell.
  16. Place the cheese in your aging refrigerator 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.


    download our cheesemaking guide and recipe book