94 DAIRY CHEMISTRY 



cheese is pressed against a hot iron and immediately 

 withdrawn. The length of the threads adhering to 

 the iron are proportional to the degree of ripeness 

 of the curd. If the threads are an eighth of an 

 inch long, the curd is usually in a sufficiently advanced 

 stage for the removal of the whey. In case a quick- 

 curing cheese is desired, threads of greater length 

 should be shown. After the whey is removed, the 

 curd is allowed to pack and form large masses in the 

 bottom of the vat. These masses are cut into blocks 

 and placed in a pile so as to undergo further diges- 

 tion changes and develop acid. The curd is ground 

 when the threads shown by the hot-iron test are a 

 fourth of an inch or more. The grinding and subse- 

 quent salting of the curd retard the fermentation 

 process. Before grinding, the curd is kept at a 

 temperature of 90 to 95; after grinding and salt- 

 ing, the temperature is reduced to about 80 F. 

 The matting of the curd particles is spoken of 

 as cheddaring. The ground and salted curd is 

 placed in molds and pressed in the cheese press. 

 A gradual and uniform pressure is maintained for 

 about 24 hours. The cheese is then ready for 

 the curing room. As in the case of butter making, 

 exact details for the manipulation of all kinds of 

 milk cannot be given. The general principles of 

 cheese making, however, should be thoroughly under- 

 stood, and then the processes may be varied to meet 

 different conditions arising in the manufacture of 

 different kinds of milk into cheese. 



