56 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF CHEESE-MAKING 



most essential points, especially those in which it 

 differs from the cheddar method. The cheddar and 

 stirred-curd methods are identical until the time 

 comes for the removal of the whey from the curd, 

 when they differ in the following respects : ( i ) In 

 the cheddar process the whey is removed from the 

 curd when the hot-iron test shows strings }fa to J4 

 inch long; in the stirred-curd process, the curd re- 

 mains longer in the whey, until the hot-iron test 

 shows strings y 2 to i inch long. (2) After the re- 

 moval of whey, the curd, in the cheddar process, is 

 packed and then cheddared ; while, in the stirred- 

 curd process, the curd is transferred to a curd-sink 

 and is more or less frequently stirred, so that the 

 small pieces are kept separate; and at no time is 

 the curd permitted to pack in a solid mass. The 

 main object of keeping the curd longer in the whey 

 is to firm the curd to such an extent that it can be 

 kept in the "granular" form more easily. (3) In the 

 cheddar process, the time between the removal of 

 whey and salting is much longer than in the stirred- 

 curd method; while (4) the time between salting 

 and pressing curd is much longer in the stirred- 

 curd process. These general differences are well 



