368 THE daikyman's manual. 



cheese should be soft, rennet should be used sparingly. 

 About four quarts of milk will make a pound of cheese. 

 The curd should be used fresh and before it has cooled. 

 If it has cooled it should be warmed up to ninety de- 

 grees. The curd of twelve or fifteen quarts may be 

 made in a large tin pan. The rennet is stirred in the . 

 milk and the milk is left in a warm place for an hour, 

 when the curd is set. A convenient method of setting 

 the curd is to lay a square of fine muslin in the pan, 

 securing the ends on the edge and pouring the milk 

 into the muslin, when the curd is set the corners and 

 edges of this are drawn together and tied, and the whole 

 lifted out and hung up to drain. As soon as the whey 

 is drained off the curd is put into the molds. These are 

 made of thin veneers of some sweet wood, as maple or 

 beech, or of tin. They may be round, or any shape to 

 suit the taste, and without bottom or top, about three 

 inches by two, and one and one-half deep, or larger if 

 desired. Mats made of rushes, or clean rye or wheat 

 straw sewn together (figure 80), are used to rest the 

 molds upon while the cheese is making, and the mats 

 are placed upon a towel which absorbs the moisture. 

 The molds and their contents are turned daily for three 

 days, and, if desired, are sprinkled with salt at each 

 turning. 



The cheeses are ready for eating fresh in three days ; 

 or, they may be taken to an airy dairy-house or cellar 

 and kept for curing for six weeks or two months, being 

 turned every day and laid upon a layer of sweet straw 

 upon a lattice shelf. The curing process may be so man- 

 aged as to give a great variety of flavors to the cheese. 

 If mold gathers upon them it is scraped off occasionally. 

 Cloths dipped in vinegar may be wrapped around the 

 cheeses, or these may be covered with pulverized sweet 

 herbs. Much ingenuity may be exercised in this way to 

 vary the character of the cheese, and doubtless in time 



