1335.] 



FARMERS' REGISTER. 



11 



Rennet thus made, from the maw of a well fed 

 calf of about five weeks old, Mr. Aiton says will 

 coagulate thirty gallons of milk; but its chief ad- 

 vantage consists in the quickness with which it is 

 performed, which he asserts does not occupy more 

 than from five to ten minutes, while in England 

 the same operation usually requires from one to 

 sometimes three hours, and this he attributes 

 chiefly to the removal of the curdled milk and the 

 washing away the chyle from the maw, and part- 

 ly to the practice of hanging up the hag to dry 

 after it has been steeped, by which the pickle, 

 which he considers as the best part of the rennet 

 is lost. In opposition, however, to Mr, Aiton, an 

 ingenious writer, who has made strict inquiry into 

 this subject, recommends the following method of 

 preparing a rennet, which he has found to be bet- 

 ter than any other: — 



"Throw away the natural curd, which is apt to 

 taint and give the bag a bad smell; then make an artifi- 

 cial curd, or rather butter, of new cream, of sufficient 

 quantity to fill the bag. Add three new-iaid eggs well 

 beaten, one nutmeg grated fine, or any other good 

 spice; mix them well together, with three tea-cups 

 full of fine salt; till the rennet bag with this substance, 

 tie up the mouth, lay it under a strong brine for three 

 days, turning it over daily. Then hang it up in a cool 

 and dry place for six weeks, and it will be fit for use. 

 When it is used, take with a spoon out of the bag a 

 sufficient quantity of this artificial butyrous curd for 

 the cheese you purpose to make, dissolve it in a small 

 quantity of warm water, and then use it in the same 

 manner as other rennet is, mixed with the milk for its 

 coagulation." 



But, whatever kind of rennet the dairy woman 

 may choose to prepare, it should be remembered, 

 that this animal acid is extremely apt to become 

 rancid and putrescent, and that great care is ne- 

 cessary to apply a sufficient quantity of salt to 

 preserve it in its best state; because the rank and 

 putrid taste, occasionally found in some of our 

 English cheeses, is owing to a putridity in the 

 rennet. The following mode of preserving it in 

 asweet state, as practised in the West of England, 

 may, therefore, not be undeserving of attention. 



"When the rennet bag is fit for the purpose, let a 

 strong solution of salt be made with two quarts of 

 sweet soft water, and add to this small quantities of al- 

 most every indigenous and foreign aromatic spice that 

 can be obtained. Boil the whole gently, till the de- 

 coction is reduced to three pints, over a clear fire, if 

 possible, or at all events, so that it may not become 

 smoky; next, let the liquor be carefully strained, and 

 poured, in a tepid state, upon the rennet bag. A lemon 

 may now be sliced into it; and, after the whole has 

 stood at rest for one or two days, it may be strained 

 and bottled. If well corked, it will retain its goodness 

 for a year, or even longer, and wdl communicate an 

 agreeably aromatic flavor to the cheese that may be 

 made with it,'" 



In a case of emergency, or where no good ren- 

 net can be procured, a decoction of the yellow 

 flowers of the cheese-rennet, or yellow lady's bed- 

 straw, (Galium verum, L, which blossoms in July 

 and August,) will answer every purpose for coag- 

 ulating milk. Or the marine acid, in the hands of 

 a judicious person, may be employed for this pur- 

 pose as is practised in Holland. The mode of 

 making cheeses in most general use in this coun- 

 try is chiefly as follows, although there are many 

 slight varieties in the practice of different dairies 

 even in the same counties. 



Cheshire cheese. The evening's milk is set 

 apart till the following morning, when the cream 

 is skimmed off, and poured into a brass pan heated 

 with boiling water, in order to warm; one-third 

 part of that milk is thus heated. The new milk, 

 obtained early in the morning, and that of the 

 preceding night, being thus prepared, are poured 

 into a large tub, together with the cream. To 

 this is put a piece of rennet, which had been kept 

 in warm water since the preceding evening, and 

 in which a little Spanish annatto (the weight of a 

 quarter of an ounce is enough for a cheese of six- 

 ty pounds) is dissolved,* The whole is now 

 stirred together, and covered up warm for about 

 half an hour, or till it becomes curdled; it is then 

 turned over with a bowl, and broken very small. 

 After standing a little time, the whey is drawn 

 from it, and as soon as the curd becomes a little 

 more solid, it is cut into slices and turned over re- 

 peatedly, the better to express the whey. Next 

 the curd is removed from the tub again, broken 

 by hand into small pieces, and put into a cheese- 

 vat, where it is strongly pressed both by hand and 

 with weights, in order to extract the remaining 

 whey. After this it is transferred to anodier vat, 

 or into the same, if it be previously well scalded, 

 where the same process of breaking and express- 

 ing is repeated, till all the whey is squeezed from 

 it. The cheese is now turned into a third vat, pre- 

 viously warmed, with a cloth beneath it, and a tin 

 hoop or binder put round the upper edge of the 

 cheese, and within the sides of the vat, the former 

 being previously enclosed in a clean cloth, and its 

 edges placed within the vat. These various pro- 

 cesses occupy about six hours, and eight more are 

 requisite for pressing the cheese, (under a press of 

 14 or 15 cwt.,) which, during that time, should be 

 twice turned in the vat, around which are passed 

 thin wire skewers, and frequently shifted. These 

 skewers are of strong iron wire, about 18 inchea 

 long, and the vat and hoop have holes, about an 

 inch apart, through which the sides of the, cheese 

 are skewered. Some dairy women also prick the 

 upper surface of the cheese all over, an inch or 

 two deep, in order to prevent its blistering. The 

 following morning and evening it must be again 

 turned and pressed; and also on the third day, 

 about the middle of which it is removed to the 

 salting chamber, where the outside is well rubbed 

 with salt, and a cloth binder passed round it, which 

 serves as a lining to the vat, but is not turned over 

 the upper surface. The cheese is then placed 

 midside up in brine, in a salting tub, and the upper 

 surface is thickly covered with salt. Here the 

 cheese is for nearly a week turned about twice in 

 the day, then left to dry for two or three days, 

 during which period it is turned once, being well 

 salted at each turning, and cleaned, each day. 

 When taken from the brine, it is put on the salt- 

 ing benches with a wooden girth round it, of near- 

 ly the thickness of the cheese, where it stands 

 about eight days, during which time it is again 

 salted and turned every day. It is next washed 

 and dried; and, after remaining on the drying 



* Marigolds, boiled in milk, are also used for color- 

 ing cheese; to which they also impart a pleasant fla- 

 vor. In winter, carrots scraped and boiled in milk, 

 afterwards strained, will produce a richer color; but 

 they should be used with moderation, on account of 

 their taste. 



