122 THE BOOK OF CHEESE 



is used. Cheeses drain by gravity. They stand un- 

 turned until the following morning when they should 

 be firm enough to permit turning without removing the 

 hoops. The cheeses when firm enough to handle (usually 

 on the third morning) are salted by dusting the entire 

 surface with coarse salt and permitting all that adheres 

 to remain. The cheeses should then be removed to a 

 room at about 58 F. to prevent too rapid leakage of water 

 and salt from their surfaces. Ripe cheeses of good qual- 

 ity show a total salt-content varying from 2.25 to 3 per 

 cent with an average of about 2.5 per cent. When so 

 handled there is slight, if any, loss of water and salt in the 

 salting period of twenty-four to forty-eight hours. At 

 the end of the salting period such cheeses should carry 

 55 to 57 per cent water or slightly more. 



148. Acidity. The essential biological factor in the 

 making period of Camembert is proper souring. The 

 milk should be free from gassy organisms. The lactic 

 starter required should introduce the typical lactic organ- 

 ism (Streptococcus lacticus) in numbers sufficient to sup- 

 press all other forms during the next twenty-four hours. 

 The amount of acid starter introduced, however, plus the 

 acid resulting from growth during the curdling period, 

 should not produce a grainy acid curd. The tempera- 

 tures of handling are such as to favor this group of organ- 

 isms if properly introduced and permit the development 

 of nearly 1 per cent of acid (estimated as lactic) by the 

 second morning. Cheeses with such acid are fairly free 

 from further danger from bacterial activity. Members 

 of the high-acid group (B. Bulgaricus and allies) may be 

 found in these cheeses but do not appear to develop in 

 numbers sufficient to affect the cheese to any marked 

 degree. 



