266 ; Milk and Its Products 



described in Appendix A. Ordinarily these fermenta- 

 tions do not work with the lactic fermentation ; each 

 hinders the action of the other so that the chief 

 means of overcoming the difficulty of gas or pin-hole 

 curds is to favor in every way possible the pro- 

 duction of lactic acid. To this end the milk is 

 well ripened before the rennet is added, and the 

 heat is raised as rapidly as possible to a higher 

 temperature of cooking than ordinarily is used. In 

 extreme cases the curds may be heated as high 

 as 104 F. After the whey has been drawn great 

 care is taken to keep the temperature of the curd 

 from falling, and at the same time the escape of 

 the gas is favored by frequent turning and piling 

 of the curd. Where the curds are gassy the ched- 

 daring process must be continued until the formation 

 of gas has ceased and the holes in the curd have 

 collapsed. In extreme cases, where the' gassy curds 

 have produced very strong, undesirable flavors, these 

 may be removed by drenching with hot water. The 

 means used to prevent the development of gas, and 

 to get rid of the gas already formed, ordinarily favor 

 the escape of fat from the cheese, so that while the 

 bad effects of the gassy curd may be largely elimi- 

 nated from the finished cheese, still it is always done 

 at the expense of a certain loss of fat. 



Another difficulty that often confronts the cheese- 

 maker is that coming from the milk arriving in too 

 ripe a condition, not necessarily accompanied by un- 

 desirable fermentations. In the case of such milk, 

 the development of lactic acid is very rapid and the 



