PART in CHEESE 181 



means of special tools. This causes the pieces of curd to 

 gradually contract and become smaller. During this part of 

 the manufacture the temperature is often raised, more particu- 

 larly with hard cheeses. After the curd has been taken out of 

 the whey, it is put into a shape, and then either pressed to 

 make hard cheese, or not pressed in the case of soft cheese. 

 When the whey has flowed away more or less completely, the 

 cheese is salted, either by laying it in brine or by strewing salt 

 upon the surface. After these operations the cheese is left to 

 ripen, and this takes place in very different ways and in 

 varying times, the longest time being required for the hard 

 cheeses. The process of ripening in cheese consists in the 

 continued splitting up of the casein into substances of a 

 simpler structure and greater solubility. In the case of hard 

 cheeses the changes due to ripening proceed regularly through 

 the mass, whilst in the soft varieties they proceed from the 

 outside inwards towards the centre. These chemical changes 

 are due both to the micro-organisms found in the mass of casein, 

 and to enzymes present in the milk or rennet. 



The majority of cheeses are made from cows' milk, only a 

 few special sorts being made from sheeps' (Roquefort), goats', 

 or other milk. Cheese is sometimes made from whole milk, 

 to which cream has been added, whilst other varieties are 

 made from whole milk or various proportions of whole or 

 skim milk, in some few cases cheese being made from skim 

 milk alone. 



A distinction is also made between the cheeses with large 

 holes, those with small holes, and those which are compact 

 and practically without holes ; the distinction, however, applies 

 only to hard cheese. 



Naturally there are a great number of intermediate stages 

 between the chief types depending upon the working of the 

 curd, the temperature at which the cheese is made, &c- 

 Further variations are introduced in pressing, salting, and in 

 the temperature at which ripening takes place, as well as the 

 point at which ripening is regarded as complete. With such a 

 large number of varying factors it is possible to make from the 

 original curd a large number of cheeses, differing more or less 

 in appearance, taste, and smell from one another, but all of 

 which form a valued and nourishing article of diet. 



