🧀 Gruyère
Also known as: Le Gruyère AOP, Gruyere
Hard cheese from raw cow's milk; Swiss Le Gruyère AOP is made in open copper vats without silage feed and is at least 5 months old when it leaves the cellars.
Gruyère is a hard cheese made from raw cow's milk, named after the district of La Gruyère in the Swiss canton of Fribourg. As Le Gruyère AOP it is protected in Switzerland and comes from Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, part of Bern and a few listed dairies elsewhere. 1
In the United States the word works differently. The FDA standard for “gruyere cheese” asks for at least 45 % milkfat in the solids, no more than 39 % moisture, small eyes and at least 90 days of age, and it allows pasteurised milk. 6 In 2023 a federal appeals court ruled that “gruyere” is a generic name there, so cheese made in the US may carry it. 7
In Europe, read the full name. “Le Gruyère AOP” is the Swiss cheese; plain “Gruyère” may also be the French one, protected separately as a PGI and made from raw milk in east-central France. 13 A Swiss wheel is 55–65 cm across and weighs 25–40 kg, so it reaches the shop as wedges. 1
The rules begin on the farm. Cows get no silage, urea or growth hormones, 70 % of the herd's ration must come from the farm's own forage, and the milk is kept at 12–18 °C, never heated, and brought twice a day to a dairy no more than 20 km away. 1
In the dairy the milk goes into open copper vats of up to 6,600 litres, used once a day and always for Gruyère first. Rennet is added at about 31 °C, the curd is heated to 54–59 °C, pressed for at least 16 hours and salted dry or in brine; additives are banned. 1
Ripening takes place on raw spruce boards at 12–18 °C and about 92 % humidity. For the first 8–12 days the wheels are rubbed and turned daily, then washed with salt water to grow the smear rind, and the cellars smell noticeably of ammonia. 1 A wheel leaves the cellars after at least five months and is usually aged 5 to 18 months in all. 15
The paste is ivory, supple and of medium firmness. Fruity notes dominate over a more or less salty edge, and they come from lactic fermentation and the smear working together. By analysis Gruyère holds 49–53 % fat in dry matter, 34.5–36.9 % water and 1.1–1.7 % salt. 1
Cheesemaking in the region is traced back to 1115, and medieval chronicles say its full-fat cheese was sold in France and Italy. The name was recognised in the 17th century and entered the Académie française dictionary in 1762; emigration from Fribourg later spread production to Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura and France. Switzerland granted the designation in 2001, and European protection followed in 2011. 2
Frequently asked questions
Is it true that real Gruyère must have holes?
No. Under the rules holes are welcome but not required, and most of them are small. [1]
What happens to a wheel that fails the tasting?
Grade IB goes only into fondue mixes or grated cheese; grade II is branded in three places and loses the name. [1]
How long is Gruyère AOP Réserve matured?
A Gruyère matured for more than 10 months, more intense than the 6–9-month Classic. [4]
When and where is Gruyère d'Alpage made?
Gruyère made on summer pastures from mid-May to mid-October, pressed in cloth, in wheels of about 25 kg. [4][1]
How does Gruyère differ from Comté?
Comté is a French PDO cheese: a 32–45 kg wheel of raw cow's milk ripened for at least 120 days. [9]
Facts
| Raw material | Raw cow's milk 1 |
|---|---|
| Country | Switzerland (Le Gruyère AOP) 1 |
| Region | Fribourg, Vaud, Neuchâtel, Jura, part of Bern 1 |
| Duration | At least 5 months (Le Gruyère AOP) 1 |
| Taste | Fruity, with a more or less salty note 1 |
| Legal basis | Swiss AOP (AOC 2001); European protection from 2011 12 |
| Temperature | Cellars at 12–18 °C, about 92 % humidity 1 |
How it connects to Cheese
🧀 Gruyère ← gives ← 🔄 Curdling → gives → 🧀 Cheese
Links
- Made from which milk
- 🥛 Cow's milk
- How it is made
- 🔄 Curdling, 🔄 Ripening
- What is needed
- 🧫 Rennet, 🧫 Starter culture, 🧂 Salt
- What it contains
- 🧪 Milk fat
- Traditions
- 🌍 Central Europe
- Part of
- 🪨 Hard cheeses, 🇨🇭 Swiss cheeses
- Similar and different
- 🧀 Emmental
What to read next
- 🧪 Milk fat — ~3.5% in cow's milk.
- 🔄 Curdling — Rennet coagulates casein into a curd (the basis of cheese).
- 🌍 Central Europe — Curd cheese (quark), cheeses and butter in peasant cooking.
- 🧫 Starter culture — A culture of lactic acid bacteria that ferments milk.
- 🧀 Emmental — Ripened hard cheese from cows' or buffaloes' milk with regular gas holes, an elastic body and a mild, nut-like, sweet flavour.
Similar
🧀 Tête de Moine · 🧀 Emmental · 🧀 Wensleydale · 🧀 Rumi cheese · 🧀 Kefalotyri · 🧀 Sbrinz
ℹ️ Dairy products contain lactose and milk proteins: if you are lactose intolerant or allergic to milk protein, ask a doctor.
What it includes
Sources
- Cahier des charges Gruyère AOP (Swiss AOP register, OFAG/BLW)
- Le Gruyère AOP — The history
- eAmbrosia — Gruyère (PGI-FR-0612)
- Le Gruyère AOP — Our types of Le Gruyère AOP
- Le Gruyère AOP — The production of Gruyère AOP
- 21 CFR 133.149 — Gruyere cheese (eCFR, U.S. Food and Drug Administration)
- U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, Interprofession du Gruyère v. U.S. Dairy Export Council, No. 22-1041 (3 March 2023)
- USDA FoodData Central — Cheese, gruyere (FDC 171242)
- eAmbrosia — Comté (PDO)
- eAmbrosia — Beaufort (PDO)