Why Does Swiss Cheese Have Holes?

Oh, the big question of the century, why does Swiss cheese have holes? Sure we’ve all heard the nursery rhymes and the stories of the mice eating out the holes, but that can’t be the truth. What is it that causes Swiss cheese to have holes? Let’s take a deeper look into the process of making Swiss cheese and see if that will allow us to figure out where the holes actually come from.

How Swiss Cheese is Made?

In the past, making Swiss cheese was a very mechanical process, and took a lot of time. Today, it has been streamlined, but it still is a lengthy process. First, what happens is that rennet and lactic acid are added to milk and it sits for about thirty minutes. When this happens, enzymes start to thicken in the milk and form the curds. Once the curds have been created, they are placed on wooden racks to dry out a bit. When that is done, they are stamped with a date and batch number and they are pressed for 24 hours. The type of Swiss cheese that is created really depends on the time it ages. Today, there is a more modern method that follows basically the same steps, but just uses more modern machinery. This method really just speeds everything up and limits the time and manpower that it takes to get the cheese to a curd, stamped, and processed. This makes it a little easier to get the process moving forward.

Where the Holes Come From

Swiss cheese is all about the age, the longer it ages, the more of a quality Swiss cheese it becomes. Some people like the more mild option which hasn’t aged for long and others want the really intense Swiss cheese which has been aged for quite awhile longer. The holes in the Swiss cheese are actually part of the cheese making process. The bacterium that comes about from the process of making the cheese creates the holes. The holes come from carbon dioxide and create the pockets that we all associate with Swiss cheese and what makes Swiss cheese memorable.

If you love Swiss cheese, know that the holes aren’t going to cause you any harm. The bacteria that forms them is actually a good bacteria that just creates holes with the carbon dioxide. Take a look at all the great options for delicious Swiss cheese out there.

-Written by Viktoria Carella