89 



i( 



After the milk has stood fifteen minutes, the top or surface is 

 gently stirred up with the fingers to prevent the cream from as- 

 cending, and this is to be repeated if the curd is longer in begin- 

 ning to form. As soon as it is sufficiently formed, (and it is not 

 allowed to get very firm,) the operation of breaking is at once 

 commenced, and is performed carefully, g^'^^Hy-, cind minutely. 

 This is accomplished in about thirty minutes. Before the break- 

 ing is finished, the mass is raised, by the addition of heated whey, 

 to 80 degrees. This additional heat not only keeps up the tem- 

 perature, but hastens the separation of the whey from the curd, 

 and assists in promoting the necessary acidity. The curd is now 

 allowed to stand forty-five minutes, if the acid is not present in 

 too great quantity, but when too much is present it is allowed to 

 stand no longer than the time occupied in heating. When the 

 curd has stood the proper time, the whey is drawn till the sur- 

 face of the curd appears, when the curd is carefully broken 

 up, and the temperature of the mass gradually raised to 100 

 degrees by the addition of heated whey. The length of time 

 that stirring is continued is varied, according to the state of 

 the curd, from fifteen to twenty minutes when rather acid, and 

 from twenty-five to thirty minutes when rather sweet. When 

 the curd is sufficiently firm, it is in small particles like peas, 

 firm, elastic to the touch ; and when a portion is taken up and 

 squeezed in the hand, it does not readily adhere together, but 

 separates in particles. The stirring is continued until the curd 

 has the proper feel, without regard to the time occupied, and 

 should then be given up, the temperature being 100 degrees, 

 for if continued longer, the cheese will be hard and stifi". This 

 process of saturating the curd with the heated whey has the ef- 

 fect of completely separating the whey from it ; the moisture 

 which adheres to the particles, and which will come out under 

 pressure, is all that is left. The curd, when separated from the 

 whey in the manner described above, retaining all its natural rich- 

 ness, and the cheese produced has the sweet, nutty flavor, some- 

 thing like new milk, known as the Cheddar flavor. 



'' When the curd is only brought up to or a little over the natu- 

 ral heat of the milk, all the butter is retained and fixed in the 

 curd ; for although subjected, even at first, to a pressure of half a 

 ton, no trace of butter appears. 



" After the curd has been allowed to remain undisturbed in the 

 scald about thirty minutes, the separator is again inserted, and 

 the whey run off. 



" The curd is then thrown into a heap in the centre of the 

 cheese board, or on the side of the tub if it is flat-bottomed ; it 

 is then covered over with a cloth, and allowed to lie thirty minutes, 

 the whey meanwhile flowing slowly from the heap. At the end of 



