Oct. 2, 1908.] Agricultural Gazette of N.SJF. 803 



begin stirrinsr with the liands : iiro round the sides of the vat and the bottona 

 and remove any curd that may be adhering ; do not allow it to settle to the 

 bottom or form in the corners; the stirring should be continued until the 

 curd has finished cooking. After stirring with the hands for a little while at 

 first, the agitator or rake could then be used. The stirring should be gentle 

 at first to allow the cubes time to firm a little. Then, as the cooking pmcess 

 proceeds, the stirring should be more vigorous ; never allow the curd to run 

 together in lumps, thus to ensure an even cooking right through the whole of 

 the vat's contents. To handle the curd by stirring roughly in the first stages of 

 cooking, when the curd is soft a.nd tender, the loss in fat will be considerable. 

 By careful cutting and careful stirring the loss is very small, the colour of 

 the whey should be more or less clear, not showing the white milky colour, as is 

 the case when through rough handling a good deal of waste has taken place. 

 The object of cutting the curds into cubes is that it expels the whey freely 

 and allows these particles to become firm and properly cooked. In cooking 

 the curd, gradually raise the temperature from 86° to 98°, 2° in the first ten 

 minutes and 2° in every five minutes afterwards; thus the time taken from 

 when the heat is first applied until it is raised to the proper cooking tempera- 

 ture should be thirty-five minutes. The main object of cooking is the expulsion 

 of whey from the curd, thus causing it to become firm and shottj. It is 

 not advisable to raise the temperature too quickly, as then a skin forms on the 

 outside of the cubes and the moisture is retained within ; thus a gradual 

 heating process is necessary, causing the whey to be expelled and the curd to 

 become firm at the same time. If it is found when the temperature has been 

 raised to 98° Fahr. that the curd is not firming up as well as could be wished, 

 raise the temperature a couple of degrees higher, say, 100° or 102° ; but 

 never on any o;.'casion is it advisable to raise it higher than 10-1:° Fahr., as 

 the risk of having a corky cheese is great, and a big percentage of the 

 butter-fat is melted and lost in the whey. The time for wlieying off should 

 be from two and a half to three hours after the rennet has been added, not 

 sooner than two and a half hours if pos.sible, and not later than three hours. 

 To have sufficient acid to draw the whey off before two and a half hours, 

 the chances are that the curd is too soft, and the matured cheese will show a 

 pastiness when rubbed between the fingers, denoting insufficient cooking, and 

 will go ofi" in flavour very quickly. If, on the other hand, the curd remains 

 in the whey over three hours, the curd becomes too hard, and has a tendency 

 to make a tough leathery cheese. The correct amount of acid at wheying off 

 should be indicated by the hot-iron test, showing threads fr-om ]. to \ of an 

 inch. Draw the whey off through the gate or tap in the vat, lose no time in 

 getting it off ; in fact, be as quick as possible. This is a critical point at this 

 stage of the manufacture, and too much acid given at this particular time 

 will result in a dry, mealy, bleached, sour cheese. 8o the cheese-maker has 

 to be alert. Drain the whey off as quickly as possible, and throw the curd 

 on to wooden racks placed in the bottom of the vat and hand-stir until the 

 curd becomes fairly dry, then throw it together to give it an opportunity to 

 mat or form into a solid mass. 



