224 



SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF DAIRYING. 



Fig. 70. Wooden Cheese Vat to open 

 with Key. 



curd, and to impart quickly to the cheese a smooth surface. It is quite 

 impossible to regulate the moistness of the individual small parts 



of the curd by pressure. Pressure 

 merely effects the expulsion of the 

 whey which adheres externally to 

 the curd. It is only possible to 

 expel a very small portion of the 

 whey enclosed in the inside of the 

 curd particles, and in doing so a 

 small portion of the mechanically 

 enclosed fat is almost always ex- 

 pressed along with it. Pressure must always be carried out with 

 care and intelligence if it is to effect the desired end. The pressure 

 exercised should not remain the same during the whole period of 



pressure, but should be 

 slowly and gradually 

 increased along with the 

 increase of firmness in 

 the cheese. If the cheese 

 be at first pressed too 

 strongly when it is still 

 soft, the curd on the sur- 

 face is pressed so firmly 

 together that the whey 

 enclosed in the centre 

 cannot be perfectly ex- 

 pelled, and the result will 

 be that the cheese re- 

 mains too damp, with the 

 consequence that it sub- 

 sequently becomes puffy. 

 The same thing happens 

 if the pressure be not 

 sufficiently great, or if in 

 using moulds which can 

 be adjusted, either nar- 

 rower or wider, the mould 



is made too narrow, so that the top and bottom and pieces of the 

 Cheese extrude between the hoops of the moulds and the pressure 

 boards, on which the whole weight of the press rests. 



Fig. 71. The "Two in One" Double Cheese Press. 



