46 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF CHEESE-MAKING 



CAUSES OF EXCESSIVE MOISTURE 



Among- the most common causes of excessive 

 water in curd and cheese are the following : ( I ) 

 Cutting curd coarse or when too hard; (2) insuffi- 

 cient heating of curd in whey; (3) heating too 

 rapidly, thus hardening the outside of the pieces 

 of curd and preventing escape of whey; (4) low 

 degree of acidity before removing whey, usually 

 associated with, or caused by, insufficient heating; 



(5) allowing curd to lie in whey too long and re- 

 absorb whey; (6) insufficient stirring of curd after 

 removal or partial removal of whey; (7) high 

 piling of curd; (8) prolonged maturing in cheddar- 

 ing operation and postponement of milling in case 

 of soft curd; (9) insufficient amount of salt; (10) 

 soaking curd in water previous to salting (p. 57). 



CAUSES OF INSUFFICIENT MOISTURE 



The following are common causes of insufficient 

 moisture in curd: (i) Cutting curd very fine; (2) 

 heating curd too. long or at too high a tempera- 

 ture; (3) excessive stirring of curd when the whey 

 is removed; (4) too much salt; (5) excessive loss 

 of fat may cause curd or cheese to appear too dry; 



(6) high temperature and low humidity in curing- 

 room. 



EFFECTS OF EXCESSIVE AND OF DEFI- 

 CIENT MOISTURE 



Among the more prominent effects to be noticed 

 in relation to water in cheese-curd and cheese, we 



