CHEESE 239 



develop a slight acidity. Acidification may be acceler- 

 ated by adding a little milk which has already become 

 sour; or it may be retarded by cooling the evening 

 milk. 



The temperature at which the miV^ is curdled is of 

 great importance. For soft cream cheese, the tem- 

 perature may be 65"^ — 76°. For hard cheese, the 

 temperature chosen will be between 80° — 90° Fahr. 

 When the temperature is low, the curd is very tender 

 and the whey difficult to separate ; if, on the other 

 hand, the heat is too great, the curd shrinks too 

 much and becomes hard and dry. 



To ensure the regular manufacture of cheese of the 

 same quality, the acidity of the milk and the tempera- 

 ture of curdling must be kept uniform, and the strength 

 of the rennet must be known, so that curdling may 

 occupy always the same time. Eennet solutions 

 diminish in power by keeping. 



When the curd is sufficiently firm it is carefully cut 

 in all directions, and the whey allowed to drain off. 

 The curd is often scalded with hot whey after cutting, 

 with the view of making it shrink and harden ; the 

 temperature used at this point must not exceed 

 100° Fahr. The drained and broken curd is allowed 

 to remain till it has developed a certain amount of 

 acidity. It is then pulverised in a mill, salted, again 

 passed through the mill, and is then ready for filling 

 into the frames. Curd when put into the frames 

 should contain, according to Voelcker, about 54 per 

 cent, of water when thin cheese is to be made, and 

 not more than 46 per cent, if thick cheese is manu- 

 factured. The curd from skim milk will contain much 

 more water than a curd rich in fat. The frames 



