SO made another one, one the spur of the moment so I didnt make a starter, just straight powder, so will be interesting how it turns out.
Used the whey as the brining solution. Forgot to take picks of the curds after draining, very wormy didnt cut them up to rice size.

Sure looks nice.  You should not have a problem with crumbling.  The two swiss that I have made have held together perfectly.  The first one that got baked is dry and crumbly, but good in salads.  The second one has a week to go on the counter.  I think that I am going to wax it due to the small size to keep it from drying out too much as it ages.

Thanks! their are what look like hair lines showing up, im looking every few hours in panic just in case.

Is it an illusion in the pix or is your wheel larger than 6”?  What size press are you using?

9 inch high tech pan

Neil - 17 June 2008 06:07 PM

SO made another one, one the spur of the moment so I didnt make a starter, just straight powder, so will be interesting how it turns out.
Used the whey as the brining solution. Forgot to take picks of the curds after draining, very wormy didnt cut them up to rice size.

Why you did not cut them to rice size before cooking, this size is very important to get rid of lactose and lactic acid, which cause crumbling

did u cook the curds until Proper Break?, sorry to tell you that it doesn’t look like a healthy swiss wheel yet

check my last post of Swiss

Well actually it looks better then any other i have made (checking this morning), No cracks The curds were well cooked slowly (about 2 hours)

How does one “prepare a starter”?

well this one I just added the powder, (see website for details) didnt have enough room to put the milk in the fridge and its too hot to leave it out so for the first time i didnt make a starter. Added 1tsp culture, took about 2 hours to set.

Neil - 18 June 2008 04:48 PM

well this one I just added the powder, (see website for details) didnt have enough room to put the milk in the fridge and its too hot to leave it out so for the first time i didnt make a starter. Added 1tsp culture, took about 2 hours to set.

Understood. I just don’t know what a starter is. I always just add powder.

check out my web site. Basically I use a L of 10-18% cream in a mason jar and add a tiny pinch of starter to it and leave over night and dump it into the milk the next morning when ready, fast acting. Thats for the 12-17L batches I do. A tiny pack of starter can last 20 times longer.

Coated it so it does not dry and and sitting on my kitchen counter.

Looks good!

Neil - 28 June 2008 06:01 PM

Coated it so it does not dry and and sitting on my kitchen counter.

how much is ur kitchen temp now?

mine is around 90F (so hot)

This morning is 80F and will probably gain another 10 by the end of the day.

take care, this temp is a lot high for swiss