Babcock Test for other Milk Products. 97 



104. Cheese. Cheese can be easily tested by the Bab- 

 cock test if a small scale (fig. 34) is at hand for weigh- 

 ing the sample; the results obtained will furnish accu- 

 rate information as to the amount of fat in the cheese, 

 provided good judgment and exactness are used in 

 sampling and weighing the cheese. The following 

 method of sampling cheese is recommended. 1 



"Where the cheese can be cut, a narrow wedge reaching from 

 the edge to the center of the cheese will more nearly represent 

 the average composition of the cheese than any other sample. 

 This may be cut quite fine, with care to avoid evaporation of 

 water, and the portion for analysis taken from the mixed mass. 

 When the sample is taken with a cheese trier, a plug taken per- 

 pendicular to the surface, one-third of the distance from the 

 edge to the center of the cheese, will more nearly represent the 

 average composition than any other. The plug should either 

 reach entirely through or only half way through the cheese. 



"For inspection purposes the rind may be rejected, but for 

 investigations, where the absolute quantity of fat in the cheese 

 is required, the rind should be included in the sample. It is 

 well, when admissible, to take two or three plugs on different 

 sides of the cheese and after splitting them lengthwise with a 

 sharp knife, take portions of each for the test." 



105. When a satisfactory sample of the cheese has 

 been obtained, about 5 grams are weighed into a milk 

 test bottle, or a larger quantity (say 9 grams) may be 

 used with a cream test bottle. The test bottle is first 

 weighed empty, and again after the pieces of cheese have 

 been added. About 15 cc. of hot water is added to the 

 cheese in the test bottle, and this is shaken occasionally 

 until the cheese softens and forms a creamy emulsion 



on the market, e. g., the Wagner Butter Test Bottle and the form sug- 

 gested by H. R. Wright, given in the 18th report of the Iowa Stato 

 Dairy Commissioner, 1904, p. 40. 

 1 U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, Chemical Division, bull. 46, p. 37. 



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