Why does Swiss cheese have holes in it?!
Answers: I heard it's cuz they let mice nibble on it before they package it??
Like yogurt, cheese is made by adding live bacteria to milk. The resulting fermentation gives off gasses and it is the bacteria that is used in making Swiss cheese that is responsible for the large holes. One of the three bacteria used in Swiss cheese is Propionibacter shermani. For some reason this bacteria makes the the cheese's distinctive larger holes.
Once P. shermani and other bacteria are added to the milk mixture it is warmed and bubbles of carbon dioxide form. The bubbles come together to create the large holes. In the cheese industry the holes are called "eyes."
bacteria called Propionibacter shermani
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Dear Missy:
A search on "swiss cheese holes" revealed that gassy bacteria are behind all that holey cheese. In order to make cheese, you need the help of bacteria. Starter cultures containing bacteria are added to milk, where they create lactic acid, essential for producing cheese. Various types of bacteria can be used to make cheese, and some cheeses require several different bacteria to give them a particular flavor.
Propionibacter shermani is one of the three types of bacteria used to make Swiss cheese, and it's responsible for the cheese's distinctive holes. Once P. shermani is added to the cheese mixture and warmed, bubbles of carbon dioxide form. These bubbles become holes in the final product. Cheesemakers can control the size of the holes by changing the acidity, temperature, and curing time of the mixture. Incidentally, those holes are technically called "eyes," and the proper Swiss name for the cheese is Emmentaler (also spelled Emmental or Emmenthaler).
Swiss cheese has been in the news recently because the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) created new guidelines that regulate the hole size of domestically produced Swiss cheese. The USDA reduced the standard size of the holes by half because new cheese-slicing machinery got caught on larger holes. The Swiss weren't pleased by the revised guidelines and insist that Emmentaler must have large holes. Considering how iconic those eyes are, we think they have a good point.
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that makes sense
mmmmmmmmm swiss cheese is the best!
I think yeah the bacteria answer... :-)
lol NOOOOO.Swiss cheese has holes in it because of bacteria passing gas. Contemplating a typical piece of Swiss cheese, the majority of whose holes, by USDA regulation, must measure between 11/16 and 13/16 of an inch in diameter, you may think: Here was a little microbe with a serious case of indigestion. But actually it's the work of armies of microbes, specifically Propionibacteria shermanii. The P. shermanii consume the lactic acid excreted by other bacteria (the ones that cause the milk to turn into cheese in the first place) and belch, toot, and otherwise exude copious amounts of carbon dioxide gas. This produces what the Swiss-cheese industry, hoping to distract from the reality of the matter, calls "eyes." It's a beautiful, natural process, with the advantage that it enables cheese makers to charge good money for a product that by law is partly air
air pockets from boiling