54 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF CHEESE-MAKING 



too much,, a mistake too often made by cheese- 

 makers. Milk which is overripe, whether at the 

 time of delivery or as the result of ripening after 

 delivery, is difficult to handle (p. 122). In the 

 methods often employed, much loss of fat is often 

 experienced in order not to sacrifice quality in cheese. 

 The use of commercial starters (p. 19) gives the most 

 reliable results in ripening milk. 



(3) Control of whey. The degree of acidity in 

 curd and cheese is primarily dependent upon the 

 amount of whey retained, and control of the amount 

 of whey really means control of acidity. The methods 

 for this have been given (p. 48). 



(4) Amount of acid at different stages. The 

 degree of acidity should be kept under careful con- 

 trol at each stage of the operations of cheese- 

 making, which is done by careful regulation of 

 temperature and the different prescribed manip- 

 ulations of the curd. There must be a careful ad- 

 justment of conditions in respect to (i) the 

 rapidity of formation and thickening of the film 

 around the pieces of curd, (2) the contraction of 

 the curd, (3) the expulsion of whey, and (4) the 

 degree of acidity. 



