CUTTING CURD TO SALTING 27 



Effect of cutting curd fine or coarse. — The effect 

 of cutting curd fine is to release the whey more 

 rapidly and completely and to produce a cheese 

 containing less moisture. This fact is made use 

 of in the handling of overripe milk (p. 122) ; the 

 quick escape of whey enables one to control better 

 the acidity in the curd. Curd must be heated to 

 a certain temperature for a certain length of time 

 before it becomes firm enough to insure good body 

 in the cheese. If the pieces of curd are larger, 

 it takes longer for the whey to escape and longer 

 for the pieces to contract and become firm. Con- 

 sequently, if knives that cut coarser are used, the 

 rennet must be added when the milk shows less 

 acidity, in order to allow the curd to remain in the 

 whey a longer time. 



Behavior of curd after being cut. — After the curd 

 is cut into small cubes, a slight coating or film 

 begins to form on the outer surface of each cube. 

 The existence of this film can be shown by break- 

 ing one of the curd cubes; the film can then be 

 seen. The inner portion of the curd is observed 

 to be softer^ due to the larger amount of whey 

 present. It is important that this film should not 

 thicken or harden too rapidly and thus prevent 

 the escape of whey in desired amount. The sub- 

 sequent operations have for one of their important 

 objects control of the expulsion of whey and simul- 

 taneous hardening or contracting of the pieces of 

 curd. The contraction or hardening of the pieces 

 of curd is known as "firming." It is probably due 

 primarily to escape of whey. What share tem- 

 perature, rennet and acidity each has in the process 

 cannot now be stated definitely. 



