344 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF CHEESE-MAKING 



ages of the 4 lots of cheese kept at the different tem- 

 peratures. Whether we consider each lot of cheeses 

 by itself or their averages, the results are strikingly 

 concordant in respect to the effect of salt upon the 

 formation of proteins and their derivatives in the 

 ripening process. 



We are to regard the salt in cheese as being in 

 solution in the whey held by the cheese, practically 

 forming a dilute brine. In common practice, 

 cheese-makers add from 2 to 2^ pounds of salt to 

 the curd made from 1,000 pounds of milk. Cheese 

 thus salted contains about i per cent of salt. Such 

 cheese usually contains about 35 to '^^y per cent of 

 water. Consequently, under such conditions we 

 should have, approximately, a 3 per cent brine. It 

 is evident that, in proportion as a cheese loses mois- 

 ture by evaporation, the brine remaining becomes 

 more concentrated with the advancing age of the 

 cheese. 



A study of the table leads to the following state- 

 ments : 



(i) The amount of salt retained in cheese is not 

 proportional to the amount of salt added to the curd. 

 While salt was added to the different cheeses in the 

 ratio of i: 1.67: 3.33, the salt retained in the cheese 

 was in the ratio of 1:1.40:2.20. Of necessity, 

 a considerable proportion of the salt added to the 

 cheese-curd passes into the whey. Moreover, it 

 has been found by examining different portions of 

 the same cheese that the salt is not commonly 

 distributed with perfect uniformity through the cheese 

 mass. 



