258 Milk and Its Products 



the part that was uppermost comes in contact with 

 the bottom of the vat. A further draining of the 

 whey takes place, and the blocks of curd are next 

 piled upon one another two deep, care being taken 

 in forming these piles that the parts that were ex- 

 posed to the air are turned in. Later on the curd 

 is piled again in still deeper piles, and as the pro- 

 cess continues the mass is piled over and over 

 again, care being taken that the exposed parts of one 

 pile are put into the interior of the succeeding, so 

 that the heat may be uniform throughout the whole 

 mass. In the curd sink the manipulation is not 

 essentially different. The curd sink is a square 

 wooden receptacle fitted with a false slatted bottom 

 and covered with coarse cotton or linen cloth, 

 through which the whey can easily escape. When 

 the time comes for separating the whey, so much 

 as will run off readily is drawn off, and the re- 

 maining whey, mixed with particles of curd, is 

 dipped into the sink, the whey runs off freely 

 through the strainer and slatted bottom, and the 

 curd, being spread over the whole surface of 

 the sink, soon mats into a solid mass, and the 

 piling process goes on the same way as is done 

 in the vat. During this process various changes 

 take place. The pressure of the particles of curd 

 upon one another serves to expel a large part of 

 the whey that still remains ; at the same time the 

 temperature is kept sufficiently high so that the 

 production of lactic acid is not checked. The effect 

 of the acid is to cause a series of marked changes 



