138 Agricultural Journal of Victoria. 



ex|)erieiK-e, and made a very fair cheese — a long way aliead of mucli 

 that finds its way to market. 



Having finished stirring, watch it closely for thickening. The aim 

 now is to run ONcrything througli as quickly as possible to try and get 

 ahead of the acid. 



Now sup])ose the milk thickens in eight minutes, instead of leaving 

 it for twenty minutes liefore cutting, we may do it two or three 

 minutes sooner, and as rapidly as we can, giving an extra cut with one 

 knife, by which means the curd will be in rather smaller particles, and 

 the whey will come out a little more freely. Clean oif the sides of the 

 vat, and get the steam on as quickly as possible, and cook in about 

 twenty-five minutes. It may be cooked to 102 degrees, but it is not 

 advisable to go higher or the curd may have a burnt taste. A good 

 rule to adoj)t for the time to take in cooking is : — 



Thick in less than 8i minutes, cook in 25 minutes. 



84 to 94 " „ „ 30 „ 



9* to 11 „ „ 35 



„ 11 or over „ „ 40 „ 



Having run the te]n])erature up, keep stirring. This will assist to 

 remove the whey. Run off part of the M'hey if the tap is at all small. 

 For the rapid removal of the whey a syphon is a great help. As soon 

 as there is ^-inch acid get the whey off as quickly as possible, and if 

 the curd has not shrunk sufficiently, or is not firm enough, stir it a bit 

 on the cooler before allowing it to mat. Leave it about five minutes 

 to mat before cutting, and then turn about every five miimtes so that 

 whey does not collect on the top of the curd. As soon as the hot iron 

 shows 4-inch acid it is ready to mill. If salt is added at the same time 

 as it passes through the mill it will not mat or lump so quickly, and 

 the salt will be more evenly distributed. It is often said that salt 

 checks the development of acid, but the correctness of this view is very 

 doubtful, for if the whey dripping from the piled curd test '4 per cent, 

 acidity, it will be found the drippings from the press an hour or so after- 

 wards will test '8 per cent, or more. This will be invariably so, no 

 matter when the salt is added. The acid develops more quickly when 

 the curd is milled and exposed to the air than at any other stage, and 

 the best way to check it is to quickly reduce the temperature, and get 

 it into the hoops so that the air may be pressed out. After milling 

 stir all the time till the curd is cooled doAvn to 80 degrees, at which 

 temperature hoop it. Stirring at this stage has a very beneficial effect 

 on the curd as the air helps to sweeten it very much, taking it for 

 granted that the air is pure, as it always should be, in a cheese factory. 

 If the curd does not cool down quickly enough throw it back into the 

 vat and run cold water underneath, which will cool it in a few minutes, 

 and very often save hours in hot weather. It is often recommended 

 that after milling the curd should have warm water (about 102 degrees) 

 thrown over it to wash out the excess, but I have never tried that my- 

 self. I)]-. Russel, of the Wisconsin College, has proved that it always 

 causes ;i l>Md cheese, as the quantity of the lime salts, which are 



