648 DR. CHASE'S RECIPES, 



enough to warm the night's mess, from 90 to 94 degrees. Our grand-damea 

 warmed the night's milk, but we prefer to warm the new milk. The new milk 

 will be improved by heating, the night's milk will not. It would facilitate the 

 work to heat the cold milk, but a good cheese is preferable to one quickly made^ 

 The cream should be put into a clean strainer, and after the hot and cold milk 

 have been mixed, the cream may be washed through the strainer by pouring 

 warm milk upon it; and thus the cream is returned to tlie cheese. This done, 

 rennet enough should be thoroughly stirred in to make coagulation begin ir 

 13 to 15 minutes, and the tub wefl covered to prevent cooling. 



" When the curd has become hard enough to spHt with a clean fracture 

 before the finger as it is passed along, the curd may be cut or carefully broken 

 into half-inch cubes and left a while to settle, when a portion of the whey may 

 be dipped off, and the curd again gently worked to prevent it becoming a solid 

 mass again, and from the bottom, so that no part shall be missed. Repeat the 

 stirring and dipping till the bulk of the whey is well reduced, as it will be in 

 about an hour after the first stirring, and then turn in water enough at 140 to 

 150 degrees to raise the contents of the tub 3 or 4 degrees, stirringcarefiilly in 

 the meantime, that no part shall heat faster than the rest. When the bits of 

 curd have had time enough to warm through, apply more water, and so repeat 

 till the whole come;- up to 98 or 100 degrees. Then stir enough to prevent the 

 curd from adlirring till it will begin to squeak between the teeth, or spring 

 apart when pressed in the hand, when stirring may cease and the curd be 

 allowed to settle together, and left in this condition as long as it can be, and 

 not have the whey begin to turn sour. 



"Whey has generally been heated to raise the temperature of the curd. 

 The only advantage in niising it is to prevent diluting the whey. But water 

 is preferable, because the whey, which is heated to warm the rest, has its sour- 

 ing hastened. Water, too, is better for the curd than whey. When the whey 

 is suspected of approaching change, it should be dipped oil close, the divi>ion 

 board put into the tub, and the curd all put on one side of it, and the tub tipped 

 so it will drain. After a few minutes the tub may be tipped the other way, the 

 division board removed, the curd turned back from the middle of the tub, the 

 iialf-round board slid under it and raised a little from the bottom of the tub, the 

 ili-snsion board replaced and tub tij-iped back as it was at first, when the curd 

 will be in a condition to drain from the side and bottom. In this condition it 

 rhould be left until the curd becomes so fibrous that it will pull apart and split 

 with the appearance of well-boiled lean beef. 



" While lying in this condition to drain and ripen, it should be turned occa- 

 tionally to keep all parts warm alike, and prevent an accumulation of escaping 

 whey in any part of it, and kept covered to prevent cooling. The ripening of 

 the curd is done by the influence of the rennet, and it goes on best at 98 degrees. 

 If the temperature falls below that, the tub should be tipped back and the curd 

 lovered with water at 100 degrees, till it is well warmed up. When the curd 

 lias assumed the condition described it may be considered done. It will then 

 be in a tough, solid mass, and must be made so fine that salt will strike through 

 it in a short time and evenly. A small mess of curd may, in a few minutes, 

 be hashed into inch cubes or less with a chopping-knife. For larger messes a 

 curd-mill should be prepared vuth a concave and cylinder tilled with spikes, 

 eomething like those in threshing machines, with a hopper over them to hold 

 ^he curd for grinding, the cylinder being rotated by hand. 



"If the cheese is wanted for immediate use, salt at the rate of )4. ^^ to 25 

 lbs of curd should be evenly mingled with the curd. If to be kept long, % lb 

 of salt to 15 or 16 of curd may be used. The pressing, bandaging and care in 

 the dairy room may be left to the taste and skill of the dairy-maid. If it is 

 desired to make cheese larger than the milk of one day will make, the curd 

 should be made and pressed as described, and the pressed curd of one day may 

 be chopped fine (or ground) and after being warmed by lying in water at lOG 



