The development of the "eyes" may be watched by trying the following test: Place the middle finger on the cheese and let the first finger slip from it, striking the cheese smartly; a dull sound indicates solidity, while a ring indicates a hole, and an expert maker can tell the size of the holes by the sound. This requires long practice for the operator to become proficient.
After a cheese has remained in the first room for about two weeks and the holes are well started, it is removed to the second curing-room, which is held at a cooler temperature and slightly drier atmosphere. The cheeses are held in this room from three to ten months, depending on market conditions, and capacity of the curing-rooms. In Switzerland, it is customary to hold cheese to secure a well ripened product, while in America most of the cheeses are shipped comparatively green, hence do not bring so high a price.
272. Block Swiss.—In making block Swiss, the same procedure is followed through the cooking stage. Then the curd is pressed in a square form or in one large piece, each form six inches square on the ends and twenty inches long, and later cut into sections. These are then pressed, salted and cured in the same way as round forms. In this type of cheese there is a much smaller cross-section; therefore the development of holes is much more easily controlled on account of the ease with which the salt can work into the cheese and control undesirable ferments. As it is easy to control, this variety is made in the fall and winter when the ferments are especially hard to keep in check. However, this cheese has the disadvantage of cutting eye-development short by the rapid entrance of salt.
The curing consists of the developing of the flavor and eyes and the changing in body and texture. Just what causes these changes is not known.
273. Shipment.—When ready for shipment, the drum cheeses of the same general diameter are sorted out and packed four to six in a cask. Care must be taken to put boards between them to prevent sticking. These are called scale-boards, and are made of thin sections of wood fiber. The cheeses are crowded into the cask to make a snug fit, and the head carefully fastened.
274. Qualities of Swiss cheese.—The peculiar Swiss cheese flavor may be characterized as a hazel-nut taste. It is a trifle sweet and very tempting. The "eyes" or holes should be about the size of a cherry with a dull shine to the inner lining. The "eyes" usually contain a small amount of a briny tasting liquid. These eyes should be uniformly distributed. The color should be uniform. The cheese should have a neat, clean, attractive appearance, and the rind should not be cracked or broken.
There are several common defects in Swiss cheese. If the milk is not clean-flavored, the cheese will have the same flavor as the milk. The greatest difficulty is to produce the eyes or holes. A cheese which does not have these is called "blind." A product which has many small pin-holes due to gassy fermentations is called a "niszler"; this means a cheese with a thousand eyes. If gas forms in the cheese and causes cracks, it is called "glaesler." If the cheese contains too much moisture, it will be soft and pasty. Such a cheese does not readily form eyes.
275. Composition and yield.—A large number of analyses of Swiss cheese have been made but there is wide variation. This is due to the fact that the composition and yield are both dependent on the following factors: composition of the milk, losses during manufacture, amount of moisture in the cheese. The losses in Swiss cheese are much larger than with some of the other hard cheeses, such as Cheddar. This is because more fat is lost in the whey, due to breaking instead of cutting the curd and the subsequent hard stirring. The possibility of reducing these excessive losses has already been indicated.
Swiss cheeses of high grade show about the following range of composition:
| Water | 30-34 per cent |
| Fat | 30-34 per cent |
| Protein | 26-30 per cent |
| Salt (NaCl) | 1-1.4 per cent |