SOFT CHEESES RIPENED BY MOLD 115 



of various forms are covered with cloth. The vessels of 

 curd are dumped upon the racks. The whey separates 

 slowly and drains off through the cloth. About twelve 

 hours are allowed for this process. The corners of the 

 cloth are then brought together and folded in or tied and 

 the mass pressed to complete the drainage. The finished 

 curd is worked or kneaded to produce a smooth and 

 uniform texture. This process of curd-making is essen- 

 tially the same as the American factory process of making 

 Neufchatel. The ripening process has been entirely 

 dropped in America. The curd is finally molded in 

 metal forms 5 cm. (2 inches) in diameter and about 

 6.7 cm. (about 3 inches) high, open at both ends. These 

 molds are filled, the freshly formed cheeses are pressed 

 out with a plunger or piston and their surfaces smoothed 

 with a wooden knife. 



After molding is completed, the cheeses are salted 

 by sprinkling the entire surface with fine dry salt as the 

 cheese is held in the hand. In this way each cheese re- 

 ceives and absorbs 3 to 4 per cent salt. After salting, 

 the cheeses are arranged upon boards and allowed to drain 

 twenty-four hours. They are then removed to the first 

 or drying room. The frames of the drying room (secherie) 

 are covered with straw and the cheeses are placed care> 

 fully upon the straw to avoid contact with each other. 

 They are turned each day to present a fresh surface to 

 the straw during a period of two to three weeks in the 

 drying room (secherie). Mold begins to show as white 

 cottony mycelium after five to six days, and slowly turns 

 to "blue" (bluish green). When the cheeses are well 

 covered with this moldy rind, they are removed to the 

 ripening cellar. In the ripening cellar also the cheeses 

 stand upon straw. They are turned over every three or 



