196 Milk mid Its Products. 



care is taken to keep the temperature of the curd 

 from falling, and at the same time the escape of 

 the gas is favored by frequent turning and piling 

 of the curd. Where the curds are gassy the ched- 

 daring process must be continued until the formation 

 of gas has ceased and the holes in the curd have 

 collapsed. In extreme cases, where the gassy curds 

 have produced very strong, undesirable flavors, these 

 may be removed by drenching with hot water. The 

 means used to prevent the devf^lopment of gas, and 

 to get rid of the gas already formed, ordinarily favor 

 the escape of fat from the cheese, so that while the 

 bad effects of the gassy curd may be largely elimi- 

 nated from the finished cheese, still it is always done 

 at the expense of a certain loss of fat. 



Another difficulty that often confronts the cheese- 

 maker is that coming from the milk arriving in too 

 ripe a condition, not necessarily accompanied by un- 

 desirable fermentations. In the case of such milk, 

 the development of lactic acid is very rapid and the 

 curds, technically described, "work fast." When this 

 occurs, the production of lactic acid is more rapid 

 than the shrinking of the curd, and the whey is 

 sufficiently acid to be drawn off before the curd has 

 shrunken down. In this case, the curd should be 

 thoroughly and continually stirred after the whey 

 is drawn until the whey has been well worked out 

 before the curd is allowed to cheddar ; but where 

 it is known at the beginning of the process that 

 the milk is over -ripe, care should be taken through- 

 out the whole process to use every means to re- 



