THE DAIRY. 311 



DIFFERENT QUALITIES OF CHEESE. The temperature of 

 new or entire milk, when the rennet is added, should be raised 

 to about 95 F. ; that of skimmed milk need not be quite so 

 high. If the milk be warmer the curd is hard and tough, if 

 colder, it is soft and difficult to obtain free from the whey. 

 When the former happens to be the case, a portion of the first 

 whey that separates may be taken out into another vessel, 

 allowed to cool, and then poured in again. If it prove to 

 have been too cold, hot milk or water may be added to it; or 

 a vessel containing hot water may be put into it before the 

 curdling commences ; or the first portion of whey that sepa- 

 rates may be heated and poured again upon the curd. The 

 quality of the cheese, however, will always be more or less 

 affected when it happens to be necessary to adopt any of these 

 remedies. To make the best cheese, the true temperature 

 should always be attained as nearly as possible, before the 

 rennet is added. 



Mode in which tlie milk is warmed. If, as is the case in 

 some daries, the milk be warmed in an iron pot upon the naked 

 fire, great care must be taken that it is not singed or jire- 

 fanged. A very slight inattention may cause this to be the' 

 case, and the taste of the cheese is sure to be more or less 

 affected by it. In Cheshire the milk is put into a large tin 

 pail, which is plunged into a boiler of hot water, and frequently 

 stirred till it is raised to the proper temperature. In large 

 dairy establishments, however, the Scifest method is to have a 

 pot with a double bottom, consisting of one pot within ano- 

 ther, after the manner of a glue pot ; the space between the 

 two being tilled with water. The tire applied beneath thus 

 acts only upon the water, and can never, by any ordinary 

 neglect, do injury to the milk. It is desirable in this heating, 

 not to raise the temperature higher than is necessary, as a 

 great heat is apt to give an oiliness to the fatty matter of the 

 milk. 



The time during ichich the curd stands is also of importance. 

 It should be broken up as soon as the milk is fully coagulated. 

 The longer it stands after this the harder and tougher it will 

 become. 



TJie quality of tJie rennet is of much importance not only in 

 regard to the certainty of the coagulation, but also to the fla- 

 vor of the cheese. In some parts of Cheshire, as we have 

 seen, it is usual to take a piece of the dried membrane and 

 steep it overnight with a little salt for the ensuing morning's 

 milk. It is thus sure to be fresh and sweet if the dried maw 



