THE RIPENING ROOMS OF RENNET CHEESES. 231 



the destructive process of fungoid formation cannot take place in the cheese 

 surface, and that, through the operations daily carried out in the cheese- 

 cellar, attention is attracted in the course of the many observations made 

 to any unusual behaviour on the part of the cheese, and any necessary action 

 can then be taken without delay. 



116. The Ripening -rooms of Rennet Cheeses (Cheese Cellars or 

 Rooms). From the drying-room the cheese is brought into the 

 ripening-room, in which the process of ripening, which has already 

 been started, and which has gone on to a greater or less extent, is 

 carried to a conclusion. For cheeses which ripen quickly one 

 ripening-room is sufficient, but for those which have to lie a long 

 time the ripening-room should be divided into two portions, one for 

 the fresher cheese, and the other for the partly ripened cheese. In 

 the rooms in which the fresher cheeses are kept, the temperature of 

 the air should be maintained somewhat higher than that of the air 

 of the other ripening-room ; but it need not remain exactly equable, 

 though it ought not to be allowed a wide variation. The percentage 

 of moisture should amount to about 85 to 90 per cent of the moisture 

 the air can hold. The room should also be well ventilated, because 

 moisture is constantly evaporating from the cheese. On the other 

 hand, in the rooms for the ripening of the older cheeses, the tem- 

 perature of the air must be kept as equable as possible, and com- 

 paratively low; while the percentage of moisture should be always 

 from 90 to 95 per cent. The most favourable conditions for the 

 ripening of newer and of older cheeses are between the temperatures 

 of 10 and 20 C. Within these limits, a higher temperature is 

 chosen for a more quickly ripening cheese than for a very slowly 

 ripening cheese, and similarly a higher temperature is required for 

 skim-milk cheese than for fat cheese of the same sort. If the tem- 

 perature be allowed to rise over 20 C., ripening takes place more 

 quickly but less uniformly, and the result is a large percentage of 

 badly-made cheese. When exposed for some time to the influence of 

 temperatures below 10 C., it has been found in practice that in the 

 case of all cheeses undesirable changes take place in the ripening 

 process. The temperature and the relative moisture of the air 

 should be intelligently watched and daily noted, on account of the 

 great influence which these external conditions have on the process 

 of ripening. For this reason no ripening-room should be without 

 a thermometer, and an instrument for measuring moisture a hygro- 

 meter. 



