CURD-MAKING 75 



action intervene to shape the final result. It follows 

 that the rennet factor in the ripening changes found at 

 the end of the period is almost negligible for most varieties 

 of cheese, although it appears to be measurable in some 

 varieties. 



99. Cutting or breaking l the curd. As soon as curd 

 is formed, separation of whey begins upon the surface 

 and perhaps around the sides of the vessel. This is 

 accompanied by shrinkage and hardening of the mass. 

 If the curd remains unbroken, the separation is extremely 

 slow. In cheese-making practice, such curd masses may 

 be dipped at once into hoops as in Camembert, dumped 

 in mass into cloths for drainage as in Neufchatel or, as 

 in the larger number of cheeses, cut or broken in some 

 characteristic manner. After the curd mass is firm, the 

 rate at which subsequent changes take place depends 

 largely on the size of the particles into which the curd is 

 cut. The smaller the particles, the quicker the water is 

 expelled. Consequently the development of the acidity 

 and other changes take place more slowly. For this 

 reason the curd should be cut into pieces of uniform size. 

 If the work is not properly performed, the pieces of curd of 

 various sizes will be at different stages of development. 

 The fine particles will be firm and elastic while the larger 

 particles are still soft and full of whey and may be de- 

 veloping too much acid. The knives should be inserted 

 into the curd obliquely so that they will cut their way 



1 The term " broken " is included here because the use of some 

 curd-breaking tool has always formed a step in certain com- 

 mercially successful processes. In every case in which careful 

 experimental work has been done the curd knife has been suc- 

 cessfully substituted for the breaking tool and has reduced the 

 losses of fat and casein and in addition aided in obtaining more 

 uniform cheese. 



