CHAPTER XIV 



The Constituents of Milk 



The following constituents of cow's milk are of 

 special importance in cheese-making: 



(1) Fat 



(2) Casein 



(3) Milk-sugar 



(4) Salts 



(5) Enzyms 



If this list of milk constituents is compared with 

 a complete statement of the composition of milk, it 

 is noticeable that water and albumin are omitted. 

 There are good reasons for such omission. 



So far as the process of cheese-making and the 

 character of the product are concerned, the amount 

 of water in normal milks requires no special con- 

 sideration. Slight variations in conditions of the 

 operations of cheese-making affect the percentage 

 of water in cheese much more than the variation of 

 the percentage of water in normal milks. While 

 dilution of milk by water beyond a certain propor- 

 tion decreases the rapidity and completeness of 

 rennet action (p. 307), the amount of water. in dif- 

 ferent normal milks does not vary enough to exert 

 any stich retarding influence that is appreciable, .so: far 

 as our observations go. 



Milk-albumin calls for little- or no study in cheese- 

 making, since it remains in solution during the 



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