Cheddaring or Matting. 187 



tendency to stick togetlier. By this time there should 

 have developed a sufficient amount of lactic acid so 

 that the curd will draw out in fine threads a 

 quarter of an inch long when applied to the hot 

 iron. 



When the curd has reached the highest temper- 

 ature, it may be allowed to settle, and a part of the 

 whey may be drawn off the top of the vat. This 

 is of advantage particularly when the development 

 of lactic acid is likely to be rapid, and it is de- 

 sirable to separate the whey from the curd in a very 

 short time, but sufficient whey should be left to 

 cover all of the* curd two or three inches deep 

 until sufficient acid has been developed for the 

 cheddaring process. 



Period IV., cheddaring, or matting. — When suffi- 

 cient acid has developed in the whey, it is di-awn 

 off from the vat through the gate or by means 

 of a syphon. The curd is then allowed to mat 

 together into a mass, which is the distinctive fea- 

 ture of the Cheddar process. This matting together 

 may be done either in the vat or in a special 

 vessel, called a curd sink. In the former case, 

 when all the whey is run off the particles of curd 

 are brought together upon the two sides of the vat 

 and a channel opened between them, so that any 

 whey held by the particles of curd may be al- 

 lowed to escape. When the particles of curd are 

 sufficiently matted together to maintain themselves in- 

 tact, the mass is cut up into blocks about 8x8x12 

 inches, and these blocks are turned over so that 



