Gruyère

Ingredients

Milk and cultures

• 16 litresraw whole cow milk, unhomogenised, from silage-free feeding
• ¼ tspthermophilic culture (Streptococcus thermophilus with Lactobacillus helveticus)
• 3 mlsingle-strength microbial rennet in 50 ml cool unchlorinated water

Brine and rind care

• 4 litreswater with 1 kg coarse non-iodised salt
• 1 tbspcalcium chloride and 1 tsp vinegar, to balance the brine
• 200 mlmorge, a brine wash cultured with Brevibacterium linens
• spruce boards for the shelf, if you can get them

Equipment

• a 20 litre copper or stainless vat
• a curd harp or long knife and whisk
• a 20 cm mould with a follower and a press to 25 kg
• a cellar at 12 to 14°C (55°F) with 92 to 95 percent humidity

Directions

1. Warm the milk to 32°C (90°F) in the vat. In the Fribourg and Vaud dairies this is done in a copper kettle over a fire, and the milk goes in within hours of milking, twice a day, never pasteurised.
2. Add the thermophilic culture and ripen 40 minutes at 32°C (90°F) until the milk is faintly acidic on the tongue.
3. Stir in the rennet, still the milk, and let it set 35 minutes to a firm clean break.
4. Cut the curd to grains the size of rice, 3 to 4 mm, over 10 to 15 minutes. Gruyère is cut finer than Emmental, which is why its paste is denser and its eyes are only tiny cracks.
5. Raise the temperature slowly to 57°C (135°F) over 45 minutes while stirring without pause, then hold and stir another 30 to 45 minutes until the grains are firm, dry and squeak.
6. Lift the curd in a cloth, press it into the mould under the whey if you can, then press at 15 kg for 1 hour, turning and redressing, then 25 kg for 16 hours until the rind is closed and smooth.
7. Brine the wheel for 20 to 24 hours in the cold saturated brine, turning once.
8. Dry it a day, then move it to the cellar at 12 to 14°C (55°F) on a spruce board.
9. Wash the wheel with the morge every day for the first 10 days, then twice a week, turning each time. A sticky, tan, faintly farmyard rind should develop; this smear ripening is the source of Gruyère’s fruity, brothy flavour.
10. Ripen at least 5 months for a mild wheel, 10 to 12 for réserve, at which point tiny white tyrosine crystals should crunch in the paste.

Technique

• Gruyère is a smear-ripened hard cheese, which is unusual. The washed rind, not the paste, does most of the aromatic work, so neglecting the morge gives a bland, cracked cheese.
• It is not a holey cheese. Any large eyes in Gruyère are a fault, usually from unwanted gas-producing bacteria, and AOP graders reject wheels for it.
• Food safety: raw milk wheels should be ripened a minimum of 60 days, and every tool, board and cloth must be sanitised. Humidity below 85 percent will crack the rind and let moulds in behind it.
• Commercial Le Gruyère AOP is set with traditional animal rennet. The microbial rennet specified here gives a comparable curd and keeps the wheel vegetarian.

Substitutions

• No spruce boards: untreated pine or an unglazed ceramic tile works, though spruce genuinely contributes to the rind flora.
• No morge culture: wash with a 3 percent brine and rub a little rind from a good shop-bought washed-rind cheese into it to seed the bacteria.
• Pasteurised milk needs 5 ml calcium chloride per 16 litres to set properly, and gives a less complex cheese.

Variations

• Le Gruyère AOP classic, ripened 6 to 9 months.
• Le Gruyère AOP Réserve, 10 months or more, dense and crystalline.
• Gruyère d’alpage, made only in summer on the high pastures from the milk of grazing cows, and priced accordingly.

History

Made around the town of Gruyères in Fribourg since at least the twelfth century and sold through Alpine trade routes; PDO granted in 2001.

Frequently asked questions

What is Gruyère?

Gruyère is a cheese & dairy from Switzerland: dense hard cheese, salty and fruity, the base of fondue and gratins. Made around the town of Gruyères in Fribourg since at least the twelfth century and sold through Alpine trade routes; PDO granted in 2001.

How long does Gruyère take to make?

Gruyère takes 3 hr active of preparation and 5 to 12 months ripening of cooking. The recipe makes 1 wheel, about 1.5 kg. It is rated hard to make.

What can I substitute in Gruyère?

Yes, within limits. No spruce boards: untreated pine or an unglazed ceramic tile works, though spruce genuinely contributes to the rind flora. No morge culture: wash with a 3 percent brine and rub a little rind from a good shop-bought washed-rind cheese into it to seed the bacteria. Pasteurised milk needs 5 ml calcium chloride per 16 litres to set properly, and gives a less complex cheese.

What is the most important thing to get right in Gruyère?

Warm the milk to 32°C (90°F) in the vat. In the Fribourg and Vaud dairies this is done in a copper kettle over a fire, and the milk goes in within hours of milking, twice a day, never pasteurised.