CUTTING CURD TO SALTING 33 



should be piled evenly along the two sides of the 

 vat, with an open channel 4 to 6 inches wide be- 

 tween the piles, to facilitate the ready drainage of 

 the whey that comes from the curd. The vat should 

 have dip enough to enable the escaping whey to 

 pass away rapidly and keep it from lying in pools 

 around the curd. Up to this time the curd should 

 not have been allowed to become lumpy, but, as 

 far as possible, the small pieces should be kept 

 separated. This results in a more uniform expul- 

 sion of whey, a more uniform development of acid 

 and a more uniform color in the curd. Some 

 cheese-makers use curd-sinks to dry the curd in 

 during this stage. Others use strainer-racks on the 

 bottom of the vats. In using these, the curd and 

 whey are dipped in pails on to the racks, which are 

 covered with cheese-cloth. The whey drains 

 through the racks and the curd is easy to stir. The 

 curd-sinks and vat-racks are of some aid in han- 

 dling curd from overripe milk, but under normal 

 conditions they have no particular advantage over 

 the vat. 



Cutting and repiling curd. — As soon as the curd 

 has become matted together sufficiently, forming 

 a solid mass about 6 inches deep, it should be cut 

 into blocks or strips 6 to 8 inches wide and turned 

 over, the top going on the bottom. This takes 15 

 to 20 minutes from the time of piling. If the curd 

 contains excessive amounts of visible or free whey, 

 the blocks should be cut very narrow and turned 

 as soon as matted. After draining about 15 min- 

 utes, the strips are piled in layers two deep, each 

 time the upper part being turned down. The blocks 



