THE TREATMENT OF CURD BEFORE IT IS MOULDED. 



219 



the American curd-knives (figs. 66-68), which consist of a row of 

 brass knives placed parallel to one another, either horizontally or 

 vertically, it is possible to cut the curd into large-shaped pieces of 



Fig. 64. Cheese Ladles. 



Fig. 65. Curd Stirrer. 



Fig. 67. Curd Knife. 



a certain size, but it is not easy to further reduce the pieces to a 

 uniform smaller size in the vats themselves. To effect this purpose, 

 a special implement is used in the American cheese factories, viz. 

 the curd-mill, by means of which the curd, after being 

 separated from the whey, is reduced into smaller pieces. 

 The cheese-vat and curd-mill must be used together, 

 for where one of these utensils is used the other cannot 

 be dispensed with. It would be altogether useless, 

 on the other hand, to grind 

 the curd in a curd-mill 

 where a kettle had been 

 used for cheese making. 

 For stirring the broken 

 curd in cheese- vats, a spe- 

 cial curd-stirrer is used 

 (fig. 69). 



While the curd is being cut in the cheese vessels it becomes 

 firmer, and poorer in water; in fact the smaller it is cut the less 

 water does it contain. In the preparation of both kinds of hard 

 cheese, the subsequent hardening is effected by means of another 



Fig. 68. Curd 

 Knife with Hori- 

 zontal Blades. 



Fig. 69. Curd Stirrer. 



