858 THE COMPLETE GRAZIER. BOOK n. 



Coagulation is completed when the curd will break cleanly over the 

 finger ; it is then cut by the curd-cutter, the cutting being done slowly 

 from one end of the vat to the other, and repeated till the whole mass 

 is cleanly cut, not bruised and broken. The curd thus cut is allowed to 

 remain quiescent for a few minutes, till the whey rises and covers the 

 surface, when the curd-cutter is again passed through the mass, but in 

 a direction at right angles to the previous cut ; thus leaving the curd in 

 the form of cubical blocks, or rather parallelopidedons, say half an inch 

 square on the side. The whey is then allowed to escape from the vat, 

 and the curd slowly gravitates to the lower part of the vat. Allowed to 

 remain quiet thus for a short time, the mass is gently turned over by 

 the hands, and then it is cut into square blocks by the equally gentle 

 use of a knife. These and all succeeding movements of the curd must 

 be done with the utmost care tenderness, as Mr. Morton well 

 expresses it, for it is essential to retain as much as possible of the fatt}^ 

 matter in the curd, and to allow the minimum only to pass off along 

 with the whey. A little steam is now turned into the empty water 

 space, and as soon as the temperature is slightly raised by it, the curd, 

 acquiring more firmness, can be manipulated a trifle more freely, and 

 turned about faster ; this brings out the whey more quickly, and 

 correspondingly reduces the bulk of the curd. More steam is turned 

 on, and the curd is stirred more quickly than before, to prevent any 

 over-heating of the mass at the bottom of the vat. The whey being 

 by this time nearly wholly expelled from the curd, the latter has become 

 hard and tough, and the curd-rake is freely used to keep its particles in 

 motion. When a temperature of 90 F. is reached, the steam is 

 turned off, and the curd is kept stirred till the bottom of the vat has 

 gradually cooled. It is then allowed to remain quiescent for about ten 

 minutes, when the steam is again turned on at full pressure, and the 

 curd is kept in continual motion. "When 100 F. is reached, the steam 

 is for the last time turned off, and the curd kept worked till the vat has 

 gradually cooled down. 



The curd is now left till the "souring process" is completed, the 

 time for effecting which is dependent upon circumstances, and is 

 decided by the experience of the manager. A test sometimes employed 

 is that of taking out a piece of curd and applying it to hot (not red- 

 hot) iron ; if it draws out into fine threads of about an inch long the 

 curd is in good condition. Litmus paper, however, affords the safer 

 test. The whey which has collected is run off from the vat by a 

 syphon pipe ; and still further to get rid of what remains, the curd is 

 gathered up towards each side of the vat, till a space is left up the 

 middle into which the whey runs. The whey, indeed, is run off before 

 it has become acid, and the requisite acidity is developed in the curd 

 alone, which is kept warm in the vat with that object. The curd, now 

 adhering in a mass, is cut into pieces, and turned over and over till all 

 the whey is expressed. It is then taken out of the vat, put into the 

 curd-mill, and reduced to something like currants and raisins in size ; 

 to this salt is added at the rate of 2 Ib. to every 1,000 Ib. of the milk, 

 autumn-made cheese having a higher proportion of salt, about 2 Ib. 



