THE COLOURING OF CHEESE. 213 



coagulated mass in the bowl. Directly after the end of this operation, 

 which can be done in less than 10 minutes, and if the temperature of the 

 milk have not changed, the dish may be removed, and coagulation by the 

 addition of rennet may be proceeded with. For example, if there be 



657 Ibs. of milk in the dish, 657 ^' 5 = 68*985, or approximately 69 c.c. 



100 



of rennet may be used, to which the necessary colour has been added. If 

 the coagulation be not exactly concluded within the prescribed time, on 

 account of the test in the dish not having been accurately carried out, 

 the quantity of rennet used can be altered the next day so as to rectify 

 the inaccuracy. 



110. The Colouring of Cheese. Nearly all the better kinds of 

 rennet cheese, especially the finer kinds intended for export, are 

 coloured when they are in the state of curd, and some Dutch, 

 English, and American kinds are also externally coloured. Gener- 

 ally the curd is coloured of a very weak yellow or reddish-yellow 

 tone, rarely is it coloured of a deep orange-yellow. The cheeses 

 prepared in Switzerland and S. Germany are of a faint golden- 

 yellow colour. The Dutch, English, and American cheeses are more 

 or less of a reddish-yellow colour. For colouring cheese when in a 

 state of curd, only liquid cheese-colouring substances are used, such 

 as solutions of annatto colouring matter in an alcoholic soda solution, 

 or alcoholic solutions of saffron. These are added to the milk at 

 the same time as the rennet. The saffron solution imparts to the 

 curd a gold-yellow colour, and the annatto solution a red-yellow 

 colour. 



Formerly milk was treated according to taste, for the purpose of 

 colouring the curd, with commercial annatto paste or saffron powder. At 

 present, in all cheese factories where work is carefully carried out, only 

 commercial liquid cheese colours are used, a definite proportion of 

 which is added to the milk. The preparation of good colouring solutions 

 of annatto is so inconvenient that they should not be readily used in 

 cheese-making. On the other hand, solutions of saffron are very simply 

 obtained in the following way. For every gram of saffron, 20 c.c. of a 

 mixture composed of equal parts of distilled water and common spirits of 

 wine are added, and the saffron is dissolved in this mixture in a roomy 

 bottle, corked, and allowed to stand for from four to five days at the 

 ordinary temperature of the room, being frequently shaken and finally 

 filtered through linen. If a pound of saffron cost 50 marks, and if for 

 every pound of milk 2 c.c. of this extract be used, the cwt. of cheese will 



