The development of the "eyes" may be watched by trying the following test: Place the middle finger on the cheese and let the first finger slip from it, striking the cheese smartly; a dull sound indicates solidity, while a ring indicates a hole, and an expert maker can tell the size of the holes by the sound. This requires long practice for the operator to become proficient.
After a cheese has remained in the first room for about two weeks and the holes are well started, it is removed to the second curing-room, which is held at a cooler temperature and slightly drier atmosphere. The cheeses are held in this room from three to ten months, depending on market conditions, and capacity of the curing-rooms. In Switzerland, it is customary to hold cheese to secure a well ripened product, while in America most of the cheeses are shipped comparatively green, hence do not bring so high a price.
+272. Block Swiss.+--In making block Swiss, the same procedure is followed through the cooking stage. Then the curd is pressed in a square form or in one large piece, each form six inches square on the ends and twenty inches long, and later cut into sections. These are then pressed, salted and cured in the same way as round forms. In this type of cheese there is a much smaller cross-section; therefore the development of holes is much more easily controlled on account of the ease with which the salt can work into the cheese and control undesirable ferments. As it is easy to control, this variety is made in the fall and winter when the ferments are especially hard to keep in check. However, this cheese has the disadvantage of cutting eye-development short by the rapid entrance of salt.
The curing consists of the developing of the flavor and eyes and the changing in body and texture. Just what causes these changes is not known.
+273. Shipment.+--When ready for shipment, the drum cheeses of the same general diameter are sorted out and packed four to six in a cask. Care must be taken to put boards between them to prevent sticking. These are called scale-boards, and are made of thin sections of wood fiber. The cheeses are crowded into the cask to make a snug fit, and the head carefully fastened.