Bacteria in the Cheese Industry. Ill 



178. Treatment of " pin-holey " curds. When this, 

 type of fermentation appears during the manufacture 

 of the cheese, the maker can control it in part within 

 certain limits. These methods of treatment are, as a rule, 

 purely mechanical; in other cases they are to place the 

 curds or the green cheese under such conditions as to 

 prevent the development of gas. One of the methods 

 that is purely mechanical in its nature is the piling and 

 turning of the curds and then the subsequent grinding of 

 the same in a curd mill. This breaks up the curd layers 

 and allows the gas to escape. After the gas has been 

 forced out, the curds are then put to press and the whole 

 mats down into a compact mass. 



Another method of treatment based upon bacteriologi- 

 cal principles is the addition of a starter to induce the 

 formation of acid. Where acid is developed as a result 

 of the growth of the lactic acid bacteria, the gas-produc- 

 ing species do not readily thrive; therefore, the develop- 

 ment of gas may be controlled in part in this way. An- 

 other reason why acid aids in repressing the development 

 of gas is that the curd particles are partially softened or 

 digested by the action of the acid. This causes them to 

 mat together more closely and there is not left in the 

 cheese, the irregular openings where the curd particles- 

 fail to unite and in which the developing gas finds lodg- 

 ment. 



Another method that is also useful with these curds is 

 to employ salt. This represses gaseous fermentations and 

 the use of more salt than usual in making the cheese will 

 very often restrain the production of gas. Tendency to 

 form gas in Edam cheese is controlled by the addition of 

 a starter prepared from slimy whey (lange wei) which is 

 caused by the development of an acid-forming organism. 



The temperature at which the cheese is cured also ma- 



