230 SCIENCE AND PRACTICE OF DAIRYING. 



days, when the cheese has become dry to a certain extent. In this method 

 of salting, the important thing to be aimed at is to salt the entire surface 

 of the cheese as equally as possible. This is effected by turning the cheese 

 before every new salting, and, as soon as the salt is perfectly dissolved, by 

 brushing the brine, with a brush especially designed for this purpose, over 

 the surface of the cheese, and by rubbing the sides of the cheese more 

 frequently with the salt than the top or the bottom. The cheese should 

 not be turned till its surface has become sufficiently dry. As long as it 

 yields an abundant brine, the cheese is kept in a special room the salt or 

 drying room, care being taken that the brine is allowed to drain quickly 

 off from the cheese. During this period, the fresh cheese is so saturated 

 with water, and is so soft, that special precautions must be taken to main- 

 tain its regular shape. For this purpose rectangular small cheeses are 

 laid on their ends in a row close to one another, and large round cheeses 

 are surrounded with a wooden hoop similar to the hoop of the mould, or 

 are firmly sewn up in a strip of cloth (England and America). As soon as 

 the surface has become sufficiently hard the cheese has its wrapping 

 removed, and the salting is carried out. Finally, when the salting has 

 been practically completed, the larger cheeses are rubbed over from time 

 to time with a cloth dipped in a salt solution, and the smaller cheeses are 

 dipped once or twice into sour whey or a solution of salt. The method of 

 salting is determined by the special conditions of the different kinds of 

 cheese; the temperature and the relative dampness are regulated similarly, 

 according to the nature of the cheese to be manufactured. 



In order to permit sufficient time for the osmotic processes taking 

 place in this method of salting, the salting process and the drying process 

 are carried out very slowly and gradually, so that the cheese may become 

 of similar character throughout its entire mass, a point of the highest 

 importance for the process of ripening. The drying and hardening of the 

 cheese may be facilitated or hindered by salting more strongly or more 

 weakly, according to the circumstances and necessity, and thus the progress 

 of the process of ripening may be influenced. In order to ascertain this 

 correctly, it is necessary to watch carefully the ripening of the cheese in 

 the store, and not to delay boring or cutting into the cheese, and examin- 

 ing a small portion of its interior. 



In the case of small and light cheeses, the method of salting under dis- 

 cussion possesses the disadvantage that it is very laborious and consumes 

 much time, and, at least in the case of large valuable hard cheeses, as, 

 for example, the Emmenthaler cheese, demands much practical skill and 

 attention, as well as a certain expenditure of force. On the other hand, in 

 addition to the great advantages already enumerated, it possesses the re- 

 commendation that the cheese has only a thin external rind or skin, that 



