"Home- Trade," or Stirred -Curd" 271 



the curd is not allowed to mat into a mass or ched- 

 dar, but is kept stirred in such a way that the whey 

 will drain off until it is dry enough so that the par- 

 ticles of curd will not unite. It is then salted and, 

 with more or less further maturing of the curd, is 

 pressed and cured. The character of the resulting 

 cheese, however, depends quite as much upon the 

 amount and character of the changes that go on in 

 the curd after the whey is drawn, and before it is 

 put into press, as upon the mere fact of allowing it 

 to pack in a mass (cheddar) or keeping it apart by 

 stirring. If the cheddar variety is ground shortly after 

 matting, and immediately salted and put to press, 

 the resulting cheese will resemble the stirred -curd 

 type. On the other hand, if the stirred -curd is kept 

 warm and frequently stirred, many of the same 

 changes will go on as in the cheddared curd, and 

 the cheese when cured will resemble the cheddar type. 

 Another distinction between the two processes is that 

 in the case of the cheddar cheese the aim is to get rid of 

 all the water consistent with a compact union of the par- 

 ticles of casein. In the manufacture of the stirred-curd 

 cheese, on the other hand, the aim is to retain as much 

 water as possible without having it appear in the form 

 of free water in the cheese. To this end, in the stirred- 

 curd process those influences which tend to contact the 

 curd, namely, the application of heat and the development 

 of lactic acid, are not carried so far as in the cheddar pro- 

 cess. In fact, in many cases they are not carried far 

 enough to remove all of the water, and some remains in 

 the cheese, making a "wet," "sloppy" or "leaky" cheese. 



