CHEESE MAKIJ^G. 381 



teen days old, and have become somewhat dry, a skin 

 being formed over them. If they are not now coated 

 with a slight blue mold they are again reversed and 

 allowed to stand longer. When this mold has appeared 

 they are taken to a dry, cool room, where they are turned 

 (end for end) every five days, and they are watched (with 

 much care as to atmospheric conditions) until they are 

 well coated with a reddish globular mold. If the pro- 

 cesses have all been well managed this mold will appear 

 uniformly on all sides, and the ripening will be equal 

 throughout. After this they are turned less frequently, 

 first once in ten days and then once a fortnight. At the 

 end of three months they should be sold, as soon after 

 this time they will begin to run. • 



Well-made Neufchatel cheese should be a homogeneous 

 paste, free from granulation, and spreading smoothly like 

 butter. 



Tlie care and close attention which the manufacture 

 demands justifies the high price that the well-made 

 article brings in the European markets— a price which 

 the more simply made American imitation can not 

 command. 



In the manufacture of this class of cheeses quality 

 should be made the first consideration. The French call 

 this class of cheeses '\fromages de consistance molle,^'' or 

 simply " soft cheeses." They should be of a buttery con- 

 sistence, with a pleasant sharp flavor and an ammoniacal 

 odor, but not so pronounced as that of the Limburger. 

 The rich buttery consistence is procured by the addition 

 of some of the cream of other milk of the previous even- 

 ing, and a little more rennet is then used. The low 

 temperature, the small quantity of rennet, and the long 

 slow curing, with the effect of the mold, all aid m pro- 

 curing this desirable quality. American imitators of the 

 French cheese would do well to imitate equally well the 

 careful French methods, 



