382 THE dairyman's maxual. 



Brie Cheese, another excellent soft French cheese, 

 is made in three or four factories at least in the United 

 States. One of these is in Orange County, ]N"ew York, 

 and the product is equal to that of the French dairies. 

 There are the fine, the half cream, and the skim Brie 

 cheeses. The fine is the only kind made here. The pro- 

 cess is at first precisely like that of the Xeufchatel cheese. 

 The new warm milk is treated with rennet as soon as 

 drawn, sufficient rennet being used to get the curd in an 

 hour or a little more. The mold is about a foot in diam- 

 eter and three inches in depth. The mold rests on a mat 

 of rushes placed on a plank form. As soon as the curd 

 is formed it is dipped out of the vat with a strainer dish, 

 without breaking it, and the mold is moved to a drain- 

 ing table for the whey to run off. As soon as the curd 

 has become firm enough, it is taken from the mold, 

 smoothed with a knife, and put on the salting table, where 

 it is sprinkled with fine salt. The next day it is turned 

 and salted on the other side. If the cheese gives way it 

 is strengthened by a band of zinc placed around it until 

 it becomes firmer, and to turn them easily they are laid 

 upon a frame of osiers with another on top. They are 

 turned daily from ten to fourteen days. They are cured 

 in a dry airy room, where they become covered with blue 

 mold with which the red spores are mingled, and after six 

 weeks they are ready for sale. 



The best cheeses are refined in the following manner. 

 They are packed in casks in layers with oat straw be- 

 tween them, in moist cellars or damp stone rooms, at a 

 temperature of not more than fifty-five to sixty degrees, 

 where they remain until they become soft, mellow, and 

 exceedingly unctuous in texture, and submit easily to the 

 pressure of the finger. They are then in the right con- 

 dition for consumption, possessing a rich piquant flavor 

 and soft creamy consistence much liked by a certain 

 class of consumers of cheese. 



