CHEESES WITH SOUR- MILK FLAVOR 99 



the column will frill at the edges. Such irregular surfaces 

 cannot be wrapped smoothly enough to delay spoilage. 



On a small scale, a fair grade of product can be molded 

 through a tin tube (see Fig. 15) one and three-quarters 

 inches in diameter and ten inches long in which the curd 

 is compressed by a close fitting plunger operated by hand. 



122. Milk for Neufchatel should be clean, free from 

 gas and taint. Such milk should preferably be not more 

 than twelve hours old when received and in no case show 

 higher than 0.20 per cent lactic acid by titration. Milk 

 testing 4 per cent fat or higher will produce a higher qual- 

 ity of product than lower grade milk, although every 

 grade from skimmed-milk to cream is used in producing 

 some form of Neufchatel. This milk should be pasteur- 

 ized unless shown to be free from tuberculosis by proper 

 test of the cattle. Evidence 1 that the organism of tuber- 

 culosis will withstand the regular handling process for 

 cheeses of this group, and retain its ability to cause dis- 

 ease in experimental animals makes the introduction of 

 pasteurization necessary in this whole group of cheeses. 

 Any effective pasteurization may be used, but tempera- 

 tures of 140-145 F. for thirty minutes have been 

 effective with less changes in the milk than higher tem- 

 peratures for shorter periods. The milk should be cooled 

 to curdling temperature and the starter and rennet added 

 and stirred into the milk in bulk. The milk may then be 

 quickly distributed into the curdling cans with a hose 

 or from the gate valve of the mixing vat. 



123. Starter. To insure the development of a clean 

 acid flavor, a small amount of lactic starter should be 



1 Presented by Dr. E. C. Schroeder of the U. S. Dept. Agr. 

 to the International Association of Dairy and Milk Inspectors, 

 at Washington, Oct. 17, 1917, published Jour. Am. Vet. Med. 

 Assoc'n 52, N. S. 5, no. 6, pages 674-685, 1918. 



