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How do the holes form in Swiss cheese?

Swiss cheese, also called Emmentaler cheese, is a cow's milk cheese that originated in the Emme River Valley in Switzerland. The curd (milk solids), formed from rennet (a substance produced in the stomach lining of a young cow), is shaped into wheels. The wheels are quite large—about 36 inches (90 centimeters) in diameter and 6 inches (15 centimeters) thick. The wheels are soaked in salt water and wrapped to prevent drying.

It takes three to six months for cheese to completely ripen. Ripening occurs in humidity- and temperature-controlled rooms. During ripening, bacteria slowly change the cheese's composition, its texture, and its flavor. Different bacteria are used in the ripening processes of different cheeses—this is what gives cheeses their characteristic flavors.

In Swiss cheese, the bacteria used are Streptococcus thermophilus, bacillus bulgaricus, and...

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