DIPPING, MATTING AND MILLING. 167 



one-eighth to one-quarter of an inch in length, will 

 string from the iron. This corresponds with about 

 .2 (two-tenths) of one per cent, acid, which is about 

 the right degree of acidity in the curd at this stage. 

 As the hot iron test does not rest on a scientific 

 basis, it must pass away as cheesemaking becomes 

 a science and the laws underlying the making of fine 

 cheese become understood. 



Makers who use the acidimeter may be surprised 

 that the whey at dipping shows about the same 

 acidity as did the milk when the rennet was added. 

 This is largely due to the fact that the casein is acid 

 in character, and most of the casein is removed from 

 the whey by the action of rennet ; hence the whey, 

 some two or three hours after renneting the milk, 

 shows no more, but usually less acid, than did the 

 milk at the time of " setting " or of adding the 

 rennet. 



If too much acid develops on the curd before the 

 whey is removed it causes an extra loss of fat in the 

 whey, consequently less cheese is made, and the 

 cheese is dry and crumbling and the color is "cut," i.e., 

 it is whiter than from a normal curd. 



After the curd has been dipped on a clean cloth 

 spread over a rack, placed in the vat or in a curd sink, 

 it should be stirred until the curd has the proper 

 degree of moisture, which should be from forty to 

 fifty percent, but this must be determined largely by 

 the judgment of the maker. No accurate and rapid 

 test for this has yet been devised. 



The Cheddaring or matting of the curd into pieces 



