RIPENING CHEDDAR CHEESE. 177 



The chief changes which occur in the ripening of 

 cheese are : 



1. A loss of water by evaporation. The higher the 

 temperature of the air in the room, the drier the air, 

 the more moisture in the cheese, and the more sur- 

 face of the cheese exposed to the air the greater the 

 loss by evaporation. In order to prevent this, coat- 

 ing of the cheese with paraffine wax has been tried. 

 The cheese are dipped into wax at a temperature of 

 about 1 80 degrees, and a slight coating adheres to 

 the cheese. The best results are got by coating small 

 cheese, and by coating when about one week old. 

 It is a question whether this will pay anyone except 

 the speculator, judging from the results obtained up 

 to the present. 



2. A gradual change of the insoluble curd to a 

 soluble, digestible form takes place through the 

 action of rennet, and possibly through the agency of 

 bacteria to some extent. 



3. If ripe cheese be exposed to a temperature of 

 above 70 degress for any length of time, the fat 

 leaves the curd and exudes through the bandage. A 

 temperature of 80 degrees for a short time "starts 

 the grease." 



4. Some authorities consider that the fat is in- 

 creased through a change of the albuminoid material 

 into fat, but this is doubtful. In the fat itself little 

 change takes place during ripening, according to 

 Fleischman. 



5. Any milk sugar which may not have been 

 changed to lactic acid during the process of manu- 

 facture may change to butyric acid or to a ferment- 



12 



