196 



THE BOOK OF CHEESE 



FIG. 33. Acme curd rak( 



of the vat and tend to mat together. To prevent this, 

 the curd must be kept stirred. When stirring first begins, 

 the curd is soft and very readily broken. Some cheese- 

 makers prefer to stir by hand for the first few minutes 



after cutting, while 

 the curd is soft. 

 The importance of 

 careful handling 

 can hardly be over- 

 emphasized. No 

 matter how well 

 the curd has been 

 cut, if the stirring 

 is performed in a 

 careless manner in the early stages, it will be broken into 

 uneven sized pieces and a considerable loss of fat will 

 result. A wooden hayrake or a McPherson curd agitator 

 (Figs. 33, 34) may be used to stir the curd. Me- 

 chanical curd agitators are used in some cheese factories. 

 There are several makes. 

 (See Fig. 35.) These 

 agitators save much 

 hand labor, although 

 some stirring by hand 

 must be done in connec- 

 tion with them. The 

 mechanical agitators do 

 not stir the curd in the 

 corners of the vat ; this must be done with the hand rake. 

 It is the usual practice to stir the curd immediately after 

 cutting for five to ten minutes before the mechanical 

 agitators are used. This is necessary to give the curd a 

 slight chance to firm as the mechanical agitators tend to 



FIG. 34. McPherson curd agitator. 



