COMPOSITION OF CHEDDAR CHEESE 243 



enough, it should have a slight development of acid. 

 On the acid test it should show 0.17 to 0.19 per cent, and 

 on the hot iron | to J of an inch. The milk should 

 be ripe enough or starter enough should have been used, 

 so that the acid will continue to develop in the "pack " 

 very rapidly. During the cheddaring process the curd 

 is piled more rapidly and in higher piles than is cus- 

 tomary with whole-milk cheese. This is necessary to 

 incorporate or assimilate a large percentage of water or 

 whey in the cheese. Therefore the process of skimmed-milk 

 Cheddar cheese is much shorter. More acid is developed 

 with the skimmed-milk than with the whole-milk cheese 

 because it seems necessary to develop proper texture. 

 If the acid is not developed sufficiently, the cheese will be 

 very rubbery and cure very slowly, in which case bad 

 fermentation and flavor may and often do develop. 

 The curd is turned, pifed or cheddared in the vat until 

 it begins to become meaty and fibrous. If there is danger 

 of too much acid, the curd may be rinsed off with water. 

 It is then milled and salted at the rate of 1 or Ij pounds 

 of salt to the curd from each 1000 pounds of milk. The 

 remainder of the process is the same as that for making 

 whole-milk cheese. 



229. Half skimmed-milk Cheddar cheese. No definite 

 directions can be given for the manufacture of part skimmed- 

 milk cheese, because the process varies with the amount 

 of, fat left in the milk. As the fat is decreased, the pro- 

 cess becomes more like that for making full skimmed-milk 

 cheese ; as the fat is increased, the process becomes more 

 like that for whole-milk cheese. However, the process 

 of making half skimmed-milk cheese is about midway be- 

 tween the two. The milk is ripened more than it would be 

 for whole-milk cheese, usually until it tests from 0.15 to 0.17 



