324 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK n. 



keep it warm with cloths until it has become sufficiently solid to cut 

 into large pieces which can be turned over without breaking. When 

 this has been done, the whole should be again piled and kept covered 

 for thirty minutes longer, as before ; after this it may be removed to 

 the curd-cooler, cut into smaller pieces, and again piled and covered 

 for thirty minutes. This cutting, changing, piling, and covering is 

 continued until the curd presents a rich, dry, mellow, solid appearance, 

 and a perceptible amount of acidity has been developed. This is easily 

 ascertained by taste and smell. It is now ground, and should present 

 a ragged solid curd, dry, but greasy, and if several pieces are pressed 

 together by the hand the fragments should easily fall apart. Fine clean 

 dry salt should be used at the rate of 2 Ib. per 112 Ib. of curd, and 

 thoroughly mixed with it. 



At this point the temperature of the curd should not be below 70, 

 and it should be put into the vat or mould, lined with a thin cloth 

 large enough to cover the cheese, placed in the press, where it has a 

 pressure of about 20 cwt., and allowed to remain there until the next 

 morning, when the cloth should be changed, the position of the cheese 

 inverted, and replaced in the press until the following morning. A 

 little fat rubbed over it softens the surface, and is useful in preventing 

 cracks, a square piece of muslin being placed on its top and bottom, 

 and the sides also completely covered with the same material, of 

 sufficient width to draw over the squares 1^ inch, to which it should 

 be neatly sewn. Replace the cheese in the press, where it should 

 continue two days longer. It should then be stoutly bandaged and 

 removed to the warm cheese-room, whence, after being turned daily 

 for six weeks, it should be taken to the cooler room, and turned every 

 other day until three months old, after which, turning once every four 

 or five days is sufficient. Much trouble and damage to the cheese is 

 saved by the use of vats, which open with a key, as made by Brown, of 

 Shepton Mallet, Somerset. 



Some successful makers scald at a lower temperature, only raising 

 the first scald to 86 or 88 by whey heated to 120, stirring the curd 

 to assist the hardening fifteen or twenty minutes. The temperature of 

 the second scald should be 98, by whey heated to 180, and it should 

 be stirred until the curd is shotty. It should then be left for twenty 

 minutes, or less, if acidity develops fast. In this case no whey is re- 

 moved from the curd previous to scalding, except what is required for 

 heating. After the expiration of the time of rest, let all the whey run 

 oif ; then the usual course is to place the curd in the centre, cutting, 

 turning, covering, and keeping warm, putting it on a rack to drain, 

 placing a board and heavy weights on it to facilitate separation of the 

 whey, promote acidity, and produce a solid curd. 



The foregoing descriptions of the manufacture of Cheddar Cheese 

 may be generally followed on small or medium-sized dairy farms ; but 

 where large quantities of milk are dealt with, a saving of the heavy 

 laborious work entailed in the lifting and carrying the whey to be 

 heated to and from the boiler is most desirable. As the heating of the 

 niilk and whey in the cheese-tub by steam or water is not generally 



