The ranch. [volume] (Seattle, Wash.) 1902-1914, 1905-08-01
THE MAKING OF SWISS CHEESE.
Of. Marty. }


cheese. | shall, however, touch only
upon some of the effective wants and
needs which today we are contemplate
ing, and how these may be overcome.
An ideal drum Swiss cheese is desired
by the dealers. The evidence goes to
show that we are in need of a fancy
Swiss cheese, since there are annually
over $4,000 cwt. fancy Swiss cheese
imported.
This cheese is of a fancy brand but
if we were to trace it back to its man
ufacturing point we would find a
cheese factory with a valuation of from
$4,000 to $4,000, equipped with all
the modern Improvements. 1t is evil
dent that many of our best cheesmak-
ers cannot manage their work in a
satisfactory manner, due to the lnef-
fecuve and poorly-constructed build
ings. After two years of study and
inspection of the foreign cheese work
I am convinced of the lack of equip
ment, and the necessity of putting
forth every energy to improve cOndi-
tons in this line of our industry. 1t
is my desire to impress upon your
minds this particular branch of cheese
making.
The foreign cheese, including Swiss,
BlOcA, Brick and Limburger, are
known as sweet curd cheese, entirely
depending upon the condition OF the
milk. The milk for Swiss cheese
should not exceed over IL per cent.
acidity, in order not to destroy that
characteristic nature of developing the
eyes or holes in a Swiss cheese, due
to breaking down of milk sugar. The
milk for Brick and Limburger cheese
may contain higher per cent. OF lac
tic ferment but if over-ripe milk is
used for either Swiss, Brick or Linn
burger it will cause, when cured, pin
hole cheese in Swiss, and a sour
cheese in Brick and Limburger, due to
the large amount of moisture con-
tanned. A gassy milk is beyond con-
troll for either kind in our present
method of manufacturing, yet many OF
the faults of our cheese may be traced
to poorly constructed and wretched
factory equipment. 1t will be seen,
therefore, that the lack of fancy
Swiss cheese lies greatly in our poorly
built factories. 1t has been shown
that in the modern factories where
skilled methods are employed very
fancy quality is manufactured
However, many faults | have OBJ
served are due to the maker who has
not yet become master of the art. The
manufacture OF SWISS cheese requires
skill, judgment-yes, years of prac-
tical experience-fOr an ideal Swiss
cheese has many details and is made
I'D very defective under different tenn
peratures in the curing process. l
mean to say it is SO under our pres
ent conditions We have no guide to
go by as the Cheddar cheesemakers
have Many of these defects could be
overcome by the use of the rennet anG
acid tests, to determine the ripeness
of the milk, thus doing away with the
homemade rennet which is so varia-
BILE in it's strength. The application OF
these tests would aid us in making a
more uniform cheese, and if we can
determine the point to which our milk
should be ripened commercial rennet
extract can be used. This particular
point of getting ways and means OF
controlling the ripeness of the milk
and strength of the rennet at the time
of setting the milk would undoubtedly
be great aid to us.
The application of scientific tests
along these lines has, in the manufac-
ture of Cheddar cheese, worked Won
ders, and | am at a loss to see why
the results would not be the same in
our branch of manufacturing. But
think | am safe to say, ripening the