THE PREPARATION OF EDAM CHEESE IN HOLLAND. 255 



in summer is kept at 52 C., and in winter at 55 C. The cheese is then 

 removed back from this vat into the mould. It is again pressed for two 

 minutes more with the hands, removed from the mould, wrapped up in a 

 piece of linen, and put back into the mould, which is then covered with its 

 cover and placed in the press, where it is kept for a period varying accord- 

 ing to the time of year, and to the keeping qualities which it is desired to 

 impart to the cheese. Ordinary cheese is pressed in winter for one or 

 two hours only, in summer, on the other hand, for six or seven hours, and 

 cheese destined for export is pressed for twelve hours. When the cheese 

 has been removed both from the mould and the press, it is placed, after 

 being divested of the linen around it, in another shallower wooden mould, 

 which is so arranged that the cheese is rounded more on the one side than 

 on the other, and, on the other hand, is also held firmly, so that it may 

 not roll. In these latter moulds the cheeses are placed beside each other in 

 a comparatively deep square wooden box provided with a lid, the floor of 

 which is slightly rounded, and provided at its deepest place with a hole for 

 the outlet of the whey and the brine, and on the first day, above each 

 cheese, a little salt is spread. On the second day the cheese is dipped in 

 damp salt, so that the whole surface of the cheese is covered with salt. It 

 is then returned to the mould, where it is placed in such a way that the 

 portion which was first uppermost is now undermost. In this way salting 

 is continued for nine or ten days, until the cheese is completely saturated 

 with salt, and is no longer elastic, but quite hard to the touch. Finally, 

 the cheese is laid for some hours in the brine which has been collected, 

 washed with water, dried, and placed on a wooden stand in a dry, well- 

 aired store-room, in which the temperature of the air is not allowed to fall 

 below 6 C., and not to rise above 22 C. In many cheese factories the 

 cumbersome method, above described, is dispensed with, and the cheese 

 is placed directly in strong brine. The airing of the store-room should 

 be supervised with the greatest care, and must be discontinued in very 

 dry as well as in foggy or damp weather. If the store-room be too damp, 

 the cheese becomes covered over with a blue or yellowish mould, and 

 depreciates in quality. During the first month the cheese is turned daily, 

 and during the second twice a day, and subsequently only twice a week. 

 As soon as the cheese is a month old it again undergoes special treatment. 

 It is softened for an hour in water warmed to 20 to 25 C., then brushed 

 with a brush, dried for from twenty to forty minutes in the sun, and 

 returned to the store-room. After the lapse of fourteen days this treat- 

 ment is repeated, and the cheese is rubbed with linseed oil. It is common 

 in Holland to sell cheeses only six weeks old to the dealers, who themselves 

 submit the cheese to the subsequent treatment. Cheeses destined for 

 export are scraped with a sharp knife or special machine before being sent 



