Baby Swiss
for 100 lb. (12 gallons) milk

It is best to use milk with 3.0-3.5 % Fat. Cheese made from higher fat milk has a soft body and uneven eye formation.

Heat milk to 84 °F
Add 5 DCU (approx. 1/2 tsp.) of CHOOZIT MM100 or MM101 starter culture or
8 ounces of mesophilic aromatic culture such as ABIASA Aroma B.
Also add one dash of CHOOZIT PS1 or Propionic bacteria culture.
Ripen with culture for 45 minutes if CHOOZIT and 30 minutes for bulk culture.

Add 9 ml single strength or 4.5 double strength rennet.

Wait for flocculation, which is the first sign of milk gelling into curd (should be 12-15 minutes),
and multiply this times 3.5 to get the time from adding rennet to cutting the curd, e.g. 12 x 3.5 = 42 minutes.
Cut into 3/8” cubes.
Settle curds for 2-3 minutes to heal curd surfaces

Stir curds at 84 F for 15 minutes. Settle the curds for 2-3 minutes and remove whey equal to 1/3 of the original milk volume.

Resume stirring the curds. Add the same amount of water, which is 130 F, while stirring the curds. First raise the temperature to 95 °F and stir for 5 minutes. Add the remainder of the water to reach 102 °F. It is important to use an amount of water that is equal to the amount of whey that was removed. If the final temperature is going to exceed 102 F then temper the last of the water to prevent going over this temperature because higher temperatures will affect the growth of the starter and subsequent acid production. If the final temperature is less than 102 F then the vat can be heated externally.
Continue stirring the curds for 30-40 minutes until the curds are springy when squeezed lightly in the palm of your hand.

Settle the curds for 5 minutes and move the curds to the back of the vat and form a pack like for Cheddar. Drain off the whey until there is 1 inch left over the curds. Place perforated stainless steel screens on the curd pack and place pails of water equally on top of the screens so that the curd is pressed with approx. one half its weight for 15 minutes. Small batches of curds can be pressed by hand under the whey to get the same result.

Drain off the remaining whey. Cut the pack into squares that are the size of the forms. Quickly move the curd pieces into the forms and move them to the press table.
Press with twice their weight, e.g. a 5 lb. wheel gets 10 lb. of weight on top of the follower or the equivalent from a lever.
After one hour turn the cheeses and return to the press. Turn again after one hour and return to the press. Increase the pressure as needed to form smooth rinds. Repeat. Press two more hours for a total of five hours. Keep the room warm during pressing.

Take of the press and move the cheese to the brine room at 50-55 °F until the next morning.
Brine for 3-4 hours per pound of cheese. Turn the cheese every day and salt the top surfaces.

After removing from the brine, keep the cheeses in the brine room for one week on open shelving. Turn the cheeses every day and scrub with brine to remove molds. Coat with cream wax or cheese coating at the end of rind drying.
Next place the cheese in a room with 65-70 °F and 80-85 %RH with moderate ventilation for 3-4 weeks for proper eye development. Then move to a cooler room at 45-50 °F and 85-90 %RH with moderate ventilation for at least one more month for flavor development.

The cheese can be waxed after eye formation is completed for a moister cheese.