Composition of Cheese. 33 



4. When the curd has become sufficiently consolidated and is 

 ready to be vatted, it is crumbled down into small fragments. 

 For this operation every dairy should be furnished with a curd- 

 mill, a simple and inexpensive contrivance, which saves much 

 labour, and produces, generally speaking, a more uniform material 

 than the hand. 



5. Cheese is also spoiled occasionally by badly made rennet, 

 that is, rennet which is either too weak or has a disagreeable 

 smell. In the one case the curd does not separate completely, 

 and that which separates remains tender ; in the other the milk 

 is tainted, and the flavour of the cheese is affected. 



The rennet used in different parts of England varies exceed- 

 ingly in strength and in flavour. Even in the same locality the 

 usage differs on adjacent farms. Although I have in my posses- 

 sion some dozens of rennet recipes, which were given to me by 

 experienced dairymaids, each as the very best, I shall not give a 

 single receipt for making rennet, as my object is rather to eluci- 

 date chemical principles than to prescribe details ; and also 

 because, as long as the smell of the rennet is fresh, and a sufficient 

 quantity is used, it matters little, in my opinion, how it is made. 



The ordinary practice in Cheshire is to make rennet fresh 

 every morning by taking a small bit of dried skin, infusing it in 

 water, and using this infusion for one day's making. In 

 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire a supply is made from the pickled 

 veils, which lasts for two or three months. Generally the rennet 

 is made in these counties twice in the season. I have had a good 

 deal of discussion with practical men respecting the comparative 

 merits of these two methods. The Cheshire farmers almost 

 unanimously object that the rennet does not keep well when made 

 in any quantity of pickled veils. This, however, is quite a mistake. 

 I have in my possession some rennet which is as nicely flavoured 

 now as it was some nine months ago, when it was made. It has, 

 of course, a peculiar animal odour, but nothing approaching a 

 putrid smell. The spices which are used in some localities, such 

 as cloves and lemons, tend very much to keep the rennet in a 

 good condition and give it an agreeable flavour. The objection, 

 then, of the Cheshire farmers, that rennet, when a supply is 

 made, does not keep, and spoils the flavour of cheese, is certainly 

 untenable. I am much inclined to consider the practice of 

 Gloucestershire and Wiltshire, of making a considerable supply 

 of rennet, a good one ; for, when once the strength of the rennet 

 has been ascertained, it is merely necessary to take the proper 

 quantity, one or two cupfuls, to produce the desired effect with 

 certainty ; whereas, when the rennet is made day by day, there is 

 not the same certainty of obtaining an infusion of uniform 

 strength. 



