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Emmantal (Swiss Cheese)

July 28, 2009 @ 08:15 By Gavin Webber 11 Comments

Remember back to the post where I told you about the Propioni Shermanii culture that I bought from Green Living Australia.

Well last weekend I used it in my first batch of Emmantal cheese.  Emmantal is a unique type of swiss cheese that has large holes or “eyes” as they are known distributed throughout the cheese.

I didn’t take any pictures during the making session, but be assured the procedure is not that dissimilar from other hard cheeses I have made.  The only real difference is that you add the Propioni Shermanii to the milk at the same time as the Thermophillic culture and let it ripen for the specified time.  Add Rennet, cut the curd, stir for a long time, then press.

Once pressed, you have to leave it in the cheese cave for a week, turning it daily, then remove and keep it at room temperature (21°-24°C) for two to three weeks.  This is to let the eyes develop and the cheese swells at the top, bottom and the sides begin to bulge.  This is unlike any other cheese I have made.  You also have to turn and wipe with a brine solution daily to help the rind form.  It even smells like Swiss cheese now after a week.  Here is a photo of the week old cheese.  Note the swelling sides.



After the eye formation is complete it gets returned back to the cheese cave for another three months for final ripening and is turned three times a week and wiped in the brine solution at the same time.  I am looking forward to the day that I crack open this cheese. 

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Filed Under: Cheese, Sustainable Living

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About Gavin Webber

Gavin Webber's daily goal is to live a more sustainable lifestyle, in an effort to reduce his family's environmental footprint so we can all make a difference for our children & future generations to come.

Learn more about him here and connect with him on Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.

Comments

  1. K says

    July 28, 2009 at 08:54

    Oh, that looks yummy! Emmantal is one of my favourite cheeses – but the old white cheddar I currently have int he fridge is a close runner-up (not made by me, obviously, but still yummy!)

    Reply
  2. Aimee says

    July 28, 2009 at 08:56

    That looks great! What a beautiful rind. What do you use for a cheese cave?

    Reply
  3. daharja says

    July 28, 2009 at 10:24

    That looks awesome! Please post photos of the (holey) inside when you cut it open, so we can see 🙂

    Is Emmental the traditional cartoon mouse-type cheese? You know, the one they always show on Looney Tunes cartoons, with the big holes? I think it is, but am not sure.

    You need to open a shop to sell all these to your lucky neighbours!

    Reply
  4. nevyn says

    July 28, 2009 at 10:51

    I love swiss cheese.

    Dahaja is right, you should open a shop and sell to your neighbours

    Reply
  5. lyrebird says

    July 28, 2009 at 11:58

    how impressive. and excellent blog. thank you so much for sharing! best wishes, kate

    Reply
  6. greenfumb says

    July 28, 2009 at 14:20

    Emmenthal is my very very favourite cheese. Maybe you could start doing mail order cheese? Or maybe it’s about time I learnt how to do it myself 🙂

    Reply
  7. Rose says

    July 28, 2009 at 17:12

    If you do decide to do mail prder, please sign me up. 🙂

    Reply
  8. Gavin says

    July 29, 2009 at 23:54

    @ K. I have never tasted real Emmantal, only the crappy store bought generic swiss cheese. It still smells divine.

    @Aimee. I use an wine fridge. I have it set on 13C, and have a little container of water on the floor of the fridge to keep the humidity at about 80-90%

    @daharja. Yes it is the type they show in cartoons with mice. I will post a photo when it is ripe in a few months time. I don’t know about a shop, but I know what some people are getting for Christmas presents!

    @nevyn. Shame that the cheese course in your area was so expensive. Maybe next time.

    @lyrebird. Thanks for dropping by, keep on greening.

    @ Deb. Mail order in summer sounds stinky. Maybe I could sell the cheese on ‘The Cheesing of Gavin’. I better do a food handling course first, even though I am very strict with kitchen hygiene!

    @ Rose. Sure, you’re on the list 🙂

    Gav

    Reply
  9. Chookie says

    July 31, 2009 at 22:52

    I think you have created a new widget there — as soon as you mentioned that your Emmenthaler smells like Swiss cheese, I got a whiff of it! Mmmm. (And I believe I have the correct spelling there! Wikipedia doesn’t put in the H, but I’ve always seen it that way.)

    Reply
  10. Travelling Greek says

    August 25, 2011 at 23:30

    Gav, looks incredible!!

    I just made my first Emmental last night.

    Curious though, you used Mesophilic instead of Thermophilic? Any reason why?

    A huge fan,
    Tasos
    http://allyourcheesearebelongtous.blogspot.com/

    Reply
  11. Gavin says

    August 25, 2011 at 23:46

    Hi Tasos,

    You are 100% correct. It is a typo on my behalf. I do indeed use Thermophillic culture for this recipe. It take a true cheese maker to pick up that mistake!

    Gav

    Reply

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About Gavin Webber

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An Ordinary Australian Man Who Has A Green Epiphany Whilst Watching A Documentary, Gets a Hybrid Car, Plants A Large Organic Vegetable Garden, Goes Totally Solar, Lowers Consumption, Feeds Composts Bins and Worms, Harvests Rainwater, Raises Chickens, Makes Cheese and Soap, and Eats Locally. All In The Effort To Reduce Our Family's Carbon Footprint So We Can Start Making A Difference For Our Children & Future Generations To Come.

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