CHAPTER XV
THE SWISS AND ITALIAN GROUPS
Certain varieties of hard cheese of foreign origin are now made to some extent in this country. If not manufactured in sufficient quantities to supply the demand, the remainder is imported. These hard cheeses are now considered.
SWISS CHEESE
Swiss cheese, variously known as Gruyère, Emmenthal, Schweitzer and Swiss, had its origin in the Alpine cantons of Switzerland. From this region its manufacture has been carried by Swiss dairy-men and emigrant farmers into widely separate lands. The Swiss colonies settled in the United States in the Mohawk Valley and in Cattaraugus County, New York; in Wayne, Stark, Summit, Columbiana and Tuscarawas counties of Ohio, and in Green and Dodge counties in Wisconsin. Of all these, the Wisconsin colonies have become the most extensive. Similar colonies have developed the making of this type of cheese in Sweden and Finland.
266. The Swiss factory.—Swiss cheese cannot be made in a vat like other types for reasons that will be explained later. In place of the vat is used a kettle, generally of copper, and it may or may not be jacketed for steam or for hot water ([Fig. 56]). These kettles vary in capacity from 600 to 3000 pounds of milk. The cheese-maker takes the best care possible of his kettle, for an unclean utensil is one of the easiest sources of contamination of the milk. When the kettle is not jacketed, and it is only in recent years that this has been done, it is
Fig. 56.—Swiss-cheese kettle. suspended in a fireplace by means of a crane arrangement.
This fireplace uses wood, and is built of brick or stone, so that the kettle rests on the edge and is provided with a door which swings upon another crane, and can be closed while the fire is going. When the kettle is swung on a crane, it is possible to swing it under the weigh-stand for filling. This requires a lid to swing down over the fire, and keep the room free from smoke. The chimney generally has a rather high stack to secure a good draft. This kettle is fastened to the crane by a large iron band passing around the neck, to which a bail or handle is attached. The kettle may be raised or lowered by means of a simple screw on this beam. The crane consists of a heavy beam working in sockets in the floor and a beam or cross brace, which has another and shorter beam braced to it, to take the weight of the kettle.