For a small cheesemaker, Bruce Workman has big dreams. But they're not about fame or fortune; they're about cheese—180-pound wheels of it. Workman, a veteran Wisconsin Master Cheesemaker, is on a mission to reintroduce to Wisconsin's Green County, the state's cheesemaking Mecca, the lost art of classic big-wheel Swiss Emmenthaler production. "There used to be 300 little cheese plants in this county, all producing authentic copper-kettle Swiss," Workman says. "Over the years, as cheesemaking became industrialized and companies worked to reduce their labor costs, it was abandoned. I set out to bring it back."

 

His dream came a step closer to reality in 2003 when Workman he left his long-time lead cheesemaker position at Roth Käse USA, where he had perfected the production of Gruyere Surchoix and other award-winning specialties, to buy his own cheese plant in nearby Monticello. Some said he was crazy: The little factory, built in 1916, was seriously run down and had been vacant for 16 years.

 

But the karma inside was good. The building was owned by Albert Deppeler, who Workman says is considered the "king of kings" among Green County cheesemakers. After Deppeler retired, the factory had for many years been run by Randy Krahenbuhl, a fellow cheesemaker who left Wisconsin several years ago.  Workman saw possibilities in the site that others couldn't, and he spent the next year working to turn it into what today is a state-of-the art little cheese plant.

 

"In between the time we bought the facility and made our first vat of cheese, we replaced all the floors, the drains, the electric and plumbing, steam lines, every piece of equipment, tiles—everything," Workman says. "We had to put on a silo vestibule area so I could store milk and whey. And because my primary goal is make this wonderful old-world Emmenthaler, I imported an entire Swiss cheese plant, including a traditional copper-lined vat, from Switzerland."

 

The copper, says Workman, is critical for producing real Swiss cheese. "As the milk and curds are stirred around in the vat, miniscule particles of the copper enter the cheese, causing a reaction that ultimately results in the desired rich, nutty flavor." Once the curds are pressed and removed from the giant round forms, Workman and his staff hand-wash them and turn them twice each week with a salt-water solution for two months. During this time, the rind develops and the characteristic interior eyes begin to form.

 

"The eyes on traditional copper-kettle Emmenthaler are big," Workman says. "They should be about the size of a quarter. What most people know today as Swiss cheese has eyes only about the size of a nickel."

 

With all of his milk sourced from a farm just a quarter-mile down the road, Workman says his product is as close to a farmstead specialty as possible without having the animals raised directly on his own property. "I don't pool milk from multiple farms. As such, I know how the animals are cared for, what they eat, and that all of my milk is rBGH-free. I'm confident that it's the highest quality I can get, and, as such, I don't pasteurize it for my cheese. That's another important factor in its ultimate flavor and quality. After all, any great cheese has to start with great milk."

 

For more information on Edelweiss Creamery, visit www.edelweisscreamery.com.

Photo and profile courtesy of the Wisconsin Milk Marketing Board