No. 6. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 610 



pletelv and so fail to form a solid mass. The main object of pressing 

 is to give the cheese a definite form for market and not to squeeze 

 out whey, though this is done to some extent. The whey should 

 be removed from the curd while it is in the vat. No amount of pres- 

 sure can make up for failure to remove the whey at the proper time. 

 If the process has been properly carried on so as to form a proper 

 amount of the compound of lactic acid and paracasein, and if the 

 temperature of the curd, when put in the press, is not much below 

 80 degrees F., a comparatively light pressure will be sufficient to 

 cause the pieces of curd to cement together in a smooth, uniform and 

 solid mass. The pressure should be uniform and continuous for 

 twenty-four hours. When a screw press is used, the pressure must 

 be applied gradually at first and care must be taken, especially dur- 

 ing the first hour of pressing, to tighten the screws as quickly as 

 they become loose. 



When the cheese has been in press about one hour, it is taken out, 

 turned, the bandage straightened and the entire surface of the 

 cheese wiped with a cloth wrung out of hot water. Seamless bandage 

 is used, being cut long enough to extend over the edges on both 

 ends of the cheese one and one-half to two inches. When the chrese 

 is put back in press, circular cloth caps are put on between the ends 

 of the cheese and the follower and are allowed to rejnain. 



59. Some Common Troubles of Cheese-Making. 



The conditions of temperature present during the cheese-making 

 process are extremely favorable to the growth of many kinds of 

 bacteria and, when certain kinds are present, we have undesirable 

 forms of fermentation, producing abnonnal behavior in the curd and 

 defective cheese. 



(1.) Gas-Forming Fermentations. — One of the common troubles in 

 cheese-makisig is a ^'floating," or ''gassy" curd. This fermentation 

 produces gas in the curd and bubbles of gas cause the curd to swell, 

 filling it with small holes, so that it becomes very spongy. When 

 the gas is sufQciently abundant, it makes the curd light enough 

 to float on the surface of the whey. The small gas holes can easily 

 be seen inside the pieces of curd by cutting across them. They are 

 usually known as "pin holes," forming a "pin-holey" curd. The 

 source of this fermentation is commooly lack of cleanliness on the 

 part of one or more patrons, and the different milks should be 

 tested by the curd test (see section 48, p. 606), in order to detect 

 the offending party. However, if one is suspicious of the presence 

 of such fermentations in the milk, they can usually be prevented 

 or lessened by abundant use of a starter, developing abucidance of 

 lactic acid in the curd. It has been found that these gas-forming 



