can anyone tell me how long does a swiss take to stop swelling i let it sit for 6 weeks and it swelled nicely so i waxed it but it must still be growing cause it has cracked the wax i am storing it at 12 - 15c maybe i should drop it a bit lower in my cave where its cooler

drop it to 8 C

OK Narelle, we are now ALL jealous.  You obviously have a handle on this cheese that we don’t.  Hope you’ll share your secret.

Jealous!! jealous!! nahh Thats great to hear. Has it doubled in size or how much has it expanded? as Nabil said, drop the temp, or it might explode like Ricks cheese a few years ago

i can’t really say what i did i know i put a teaspoon of propionic bacteria in it which is a lot more than i did with the last swiss i made i followed carrol willmans recipe and they say only use a pinch but i saw in ricki carrol’s book 1 teaspoon maybe the bacteria is stronger in aus that is to 10 liters of milk i will rewax it and move it to a cooler spot in my cave the cheese started out 3 1/2” deep and now it is 4 1/2”

the first is the top of the cheese   the second is the cracked wax and the third photo is the bottom of the cheese

Bravo , this is a swiss Emental , congra

even drop it to 6C

Excellent Narelle, that’s what we’ve all been trying to accomplish.  You obviously have the knack for it.  There’s been some discussion of late on the need to press under whey.  I’m assuming that you did not do this?  In any event, I think Neil would agree that this one would be great for our proposed cheese calendar pin-up photo contest.  Nabil, is this a “sexy” cheese?

It is damn sexy, lol

Very nicely done !!! a nice cheese pie
How soft is it? Im wondering if it very soft then it expands more instead of a stiffer one that might contain the expansion more.

it was pressed under whey and it is quite firm the other swiss i made had a typical swiss texture a bit rubbery and a lot of very small holes i’m hoping this one has bigger ones. when i pressed the cheese i pressed it for 15 mins with about 4kg and then out of the whey overnight with about 40kg a a 6” hoop

Narelle,
First of all, I’m envious of the wheel you’ve turned out. I’ve been trying to get swelling like that for the last three years and this only re-inforces my opinion that pressing under the whey is the key to a good swiss cheese.
Now, could you please describe the process you used for pressing under the whey?
Did you drain the curd and then tie it into a cheesecloth bag and then put it back under the whey, or did you simply press the curd, before draining?
I’m wanting to give this another try (possibly this weekend) but I want to do it as close to the right way as is possible in a home making environment.
Thanks for any adivce you can give.

Dave

i drained the curd first and put into a hoop lined with muslin (or whatever you use). i put the hoop into a sausepan deep enough to take the whey, put a follower on top and push down on the curds to pack gently pour the whey which should still be warm place your wieght on before the whey covers the top of the hoop this way you should be able to stop the curd from floating too much then cover the hoop and press for 15 mins when time is up i use a suction hose to drain the whey from around hoop and lift the hoop out carefully and continue to press as normal