1848. 



GENESEE FARMER. 



163 



LADIES' DEPARTMENT. 



Tlie Manufacture of Cheese. 



For the benefit of those of our readers who are engage 

 in cheese dairying we make the fullovvinp extracts from a 

 valuable essay by Mr. Ai.onzo L. t'lSH, of Lilchliehl, Her- 

 kimer county, embracing exporimoiils nitide by him in tlie 

 manufacture and management of cheese. At the January 

 meeting (1848,) of the i\. Y. State Ag. Society, Mr. Fish 

 was awarded a premium of $50 for ins essay, or statement. 

 It will appear at length in the Transactions of the Society 

 for 1847, sojn to be published : — 



Having l)een personally engaged in 18-1.5, in some 60 dai- 

 ries, uhicli wore located in some tliirteen towns .ind four 

 counties, and more or less in the same manner the past two 

 years, I have observed a marked difierenco in ilie capacity 

 of soils fur producing herbage, under ditferent modes of 

 culture, and the various conditions and treatment, of cows, 

 affecting tlieir capacity for milk, both as regards qnality and 

 qnantilti. The inconvenient and improper fixtures, in many 

 instance.s, for making and curing clieese, which are to be 

 found, all unite in convincing me, that any set of rules for 

 making cheese would not be practicable, even with the 

 most proficient cheese maker ; because, 



In the first plnro, milk is a fluid very liable to be varied 

 in quality by impure water, by damp and unventilated 

 stables, change of diet, excess of feeding, excitement of 

 temper, irregular milking, salting, &c., which destroys its 

 susceptibility to produce like results. 



2d. Cheese, when pressed and exposed in a curing pro- 

 cess, is no less easily affected, and is equally liable to be 

 varied in texture and flavor, by size of cheese, exposure to 

 excess of heat, bad air, &c., the effect of which I shall 

 hereafter notice. There are, however, leading principles 

 which form the basis of operations, and should be closely 

 adhered to, in all cases, in the process of manufacturing 

 cheese. Salt, Rennet, heat and pressure, are the principal 

 agents used in converting milk into cheese, the flavor and 

 texture of which is determined by their proportionate use. 

 Their proportion is varied by different dairymen, according 

 to their notions of propriety, as best adapted to their expe- 

 rience, fixtures, &,c. Hence arise the great inequalities in 

 dairies, in the same neighborhood, and even in the same 

 dairy-rooms may be found as many di'tercni qualities of 

 cheese as tliere are fruit in an apple orchard. Some of 

 these are matured at an early period, while others mature 

 later, and are unsuited to the same market. 



Much of the cheese being contracted for before it is made, 

 (in the early part of the season) both buyer and maker are 

 liable to be disappointed, in the cheese being suited to tlie 

 market for which it is designed, destroying the confidence 

 of purchasers, and injuring the interest of the dairymen. 

 It is therfeore necessary, that makers should hav« sufiicient 

 knowledge of the scien(.'e to determine the result of their 

 practice, which cannot be learned from verbal instruction. 

 it is by practical 'xperience and close obserration onhj, that 

 the maker can learn to adapt his practice lo the frequent 

 and extreme changes to which our climate is subject, va- 

 rying the quality of the milk, and materially affecting 

 cheese in the process of curing. 



The evening's and morning's milk is commonly used to 

 make one day's cheese. The evening's milk is strained 

 into a tub or pans and cooled, to prevent souring. This is 

 done by running water through a vessel set in the milk, or 

 setting pails filled with cold water into the tub, and stirring 

 till cool ; but little cream will rise over night. 



The cream is taken froin the evening's milk and kept 

 till the evening's and morning's milk are put together, and 

 warmed lo receive the rennent. This is often done by heat- 

 ing a part of evening's milk to a temperature that will 

 Warm the whole mass. Doth are objectionable, because 

 the natural affinity tohich is necessary to preserve hetwee/t the 

 conditneiu parts a perfect coherence is destroyed, by a por- 

 tion of the milk being overheated. It is better lo warm the 

 whole mass in a manner that will produce an eq::Uibrium of 

 h-at, which is best done by placing the vessel containing 

 the milk, within a larger vessel, with two inches under the 

 bottom, and one inch of space at the sides, into which space 

 water may be put to cool the milk, and into which steam 

 may be let to warm the milk and scald the curd. The 

 more water surrounding the milk, the more uniform will 

 be the heat. The cream, if added, (which is generally 



done), is best incorporated with the milk, by putting it 

 with twice its quantity of new warm milk from the cow, 

 and add warm water lo raise its temperature to ninety-eight 

 degrees. Stir it till perfectly limpid, add cream to milk, 

 and then put in rennet, that tlie same stirring may mix both 

 at once with the same mass. If milk is curdled below 

 eighty-four degrees, the cream is more liable to work off 

 with the whey. An exlrenie of heat will have a like eff'ect. 

 Curdling heat is varied with temperature of the air, or 

 the liability of the milk to cool after adding rennet. A fine 

 cloth spread over the tub while the milk is curdling will 

 prevent ihn surface from being cooled by circulation of air. 

 ^ojarriitg of the milk, by walking upon a springy floor or 

 otherwise, should be allowed while milk is curdling, as 

 it prevents a perfect coherence. 



Rennet. — Various opinions exist as to the best mode of 

 saving rennet, and that is generally adopted which ia 

 supposed will curdle the most milk. I have no objection 

 to any mode that will preserve its strength and flavor, so 

 that it may be smelt and tasted with good rehsh, when put 

 into the milk. Any composition not thus kept, I deem unfit 

 for use, as the coagulator is an essential age nt in cheesing 

 the curd, and sure to impart its own flavor. The rennet 

 never should be taken from the calf, till the excrement 

 shows the animal to be in perfect health. It should be 

 emptied of its contents, salted and dried, without scraping 

 or rinsing, and kept dry for one year, w'hen it will be fit for 

 use. It should not be allowed to gather dampness, or its 

 strength will evaporate. To prepare it for use, into ten 

 gallons of water, (blood warm,) put ten rennets, churn or 

 rub them often for 24 hours, then rub and press them to get 

 the strength, stretch, salt and dry them as before. They 

 will gain strength for a second use, and may be used when 

 the weather vvill admit of soaking them to get the full 

 strength. Make the liquor as salt as can be made, strain 

 and settle it, seperale it from sediment, (if any.) and it is 

 (it for use. Six lemons, two ounces of cloves, two ounces 

 of cinnamon, and two ounces of common sage arc some- 

 times added to the liquor to preserve its flavor and quicken 

 its action. If kept cool in a stone jar, it vvill keep sweet 

 any length of time desired, and a uniform strength can be 

 secured while it lasts. Stir it before dipping off to set milk ; 

 take of it enough to curdle milk firm in 40 minutes. 

 Squeeze or rub through a rag anatto enough to make the 

 curd a cream color, and stir it in with the rennet. When 

 milk is curdled so as to appear like a solid, it is divided 

 into small particles, to aid the separation of the v>?hey from 

 the curd. This is often ion speedily done, to facilitate the 

 work, but at a sacrifice oi quality and quantity. 



The three indispensable agents, heat, rennet and pressure, 

 rightly applied, must keep pace with each other in effect. 

 The two former operating to subdivide, the latter to aid co- 

 hesion, by bringing the particles of a sameness closer in 

 contact. This should be skilfully and studiously applied in 

 a mild way, according to the capacity of the curd to receive 

 it. The less friction in working the curd the less waste. 

 If heal is raised too fast, or commenced while the curd is 

 too young, the effect of the rennet will be checked, and 

 decomposition will not be complete, and will result in a 

 leakey cheese. 



This often happens when steamers are used in small 

 dairies. Heat may be raised in scalding to keep pace with 

 rennet ; if rennet is quick, heat may be raised quick, if slow 

 heat must be raised slow and held longer. Scalding heat 

 may be carried from 96 to 104 degrees, according to the 

 size of the cheese, and temperature to vvhich the cheese 

 is exposed. During the process of scalding, the whey and 

 curd should be kept in motion, to prevent the curd from set- 

 tling and sticking together, as separating it is attended 

 with great labor and waste from friction. 



When the curd is cooked, so that it feels elastic and will 

 squeak when chewed with the front teeth, it is separated 

 fron the whey to receive salt. This is done by dipping it 

 into a ."Strainer over a basket or sink, or drained off and sal- 

 ted in the tub. Either may be done without adhering in 

 1 mps, by sirring it in a small portion of whey, till cooled 

 to 94 degrees. "This is the most critical part of the process, 

 where cheese-makers are most likely to err, as the portion 

 of salt retained in cheese after pressing, will be in propor- 

 tion to the cipacity of curd to receive it when added. At a 

 particular period and temper of curd, when draining off 

 whey, it will absorb salt freely, and after being thoroughly 

 mixed and packed up for a few minutes while warm, it will 

 be evenly shrunk and cleansed by salt and whey, and will 

 press out freely ; but if the curd is not well cooked, or cool- 



