CHEDDAR CHEESE-MAKING 213 



suspended about the side of the hoop and laps about 

 one and one-half inches on the bottom. The band- 

 age should be free from ravelings and placed squarely in 

 the hoop. 



The hoop is now ready to fill with curd. Enough hoops 

 should be prepared to hold all the day's curd as fast as 

 it is ready. In order to have all the cheeses as nearly 

 as possible of the same size, it is advisable to weigh the 

 curd into the hoops. The curd may be measured into the 

 hoops, but this is not so accurate. The curd may be 

 dipped with a flat-sided curd pail 

 or a curd scoop into the hoops 

 (Fig. 46). 



206. Pressing the curd. The 

 natural changes sought in the 

 curd require a period of at least 

 five hours between the time of FlG - 46 '"~ c ^ 1 d scoop and 

 setting (addition of the rennet) 



and the pressing of the curd. Less time than this involves 

 loss in yield and quality of the cheese. In other words, 

 the time requirement for these changes cannot be ignored. 

 The object of pressing is not primarily to remove whey 

 but to produce the physical conditions essential to ripen- 

 ing the cheese in a mass and put it in convenient form 

 for handling. The whey should have been removed 

 during the cooking and cheddaring. When ready for 

 the press, the temperature of the curd should be about 

 80 to 85 F. ; it should be brought down to this point 

 during the milling, salting and hooping processes. If the 

 curd is put to press too warm or too cold, the following 

 results may be expected : 



Too high temperature during pressing produces several 

 faults, as : 



