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BULLETIN 669, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF ACIIK I l.TURE. 



PEPSIN AS A SUBSTITUTE FOR RENNET. 



The scarcity of rennet has caused cheese manufacturers to look for 

 a substitute. Table 2 shows the results of pepsin tests with cream 

 cheese in quantities of one-sixth to one-twenty-fourth of a gram per 

 100 pounds of milk and fat determinations made of the whey. 



Table 2. Effect of varying quantities of pepsin upon fat loss and condition of 



curd for cream cheese. 



Sam- 

 ple 

 No. 



Quantity of curdling agent per 

 100 pounds of milk. 



Pepsin, 1/6 gram. 

 Pepsin, 1/8 gram . 

 Pepsin, 1/12 gram 

 Pepsin, 1/16 gram 

 Pepsin, 1/24 gram 

 Rennet, 1 c. c 



Pepsin, 1/6 gram. 

 Pepsin, 1/Sgram. 

 Pepsin, 1/12 gram 

 Pepsin, 1/24 gram 

 Rennet, 1 c. c 



Fat loss 



Fat in 



in whey. 



milk. 



Per cent. 



Per cent. 



0.18 



5.8 



.14 



5.8 



.14 



5.8 



.15 



5.8 



.14 



5.8 



.14 



5.8 



.08 



5.9 



.10 



5.9 



.08 



5.9 



.10 



5/9 



.08 



5.9 



Setting 

 temperature. 



C. (S0.6° 

 ..do.... 

 ..do.... 

 ..do.... 

 ..do.... 

 ..do.... 



F.) 



29° C (84.2° F.) 



do 



do 



do 



do 



Starter per 

 unit of 30 

 pounds. 



200 c. c 



..do 



..do 



..do 



...do 



...do 



250 c. c. . . 



...do 



...do 



...do 



...do 



Criticism 

 of curd. 



Too dry. 

 Good. 



Do. 



Do, 



Too moist. 

 Good. 



Too dry. 

 Good. 



Do. 

 Too moist. 

 Good. , 



Pepsin used at the rate of about one-twelfth of a gram per 100 

 pounds gave the best results. With one-sixth of a gram for an equal 

 quantity of milk the curd was too dry, while it was too moist when 

 only one-twentjr-fourth of a gram was used. The fat losses in the 

 whey were practically the same for both the pepsin-made and the 

 rennet-made cheese. 



EFFECT OF TEMPERATURE ON THE MAKING PROCESS. 



The literature about Neufchatel and cream cheese shows different 

 opinions relative to the temperature to use in- their manufacture, the 

 figures varying from 20° to 25° C. (68° to 77° F.). In our experi- 

 ments to test this matter somewhat higher temperatures were found 

 preferable. Temperatures ranging from 15° to 34-|-° C. (59° to 94.1° 

 F.) were used. There was a degree or two of variation between the 

 temperature of setting and that of pouring. The average tempera- 

 ture is given in the table. The method of making was the ordinary 

 one previously described. The results are seen in Table 3. 



It is noticeable that the losses of fat increase in the samples with 

 the higher percentages of fat, and that the losses with the low- 

 setting temperatures are somewhat high. A temperature below 

 25° C. (77° F.) or much above 30° C. (86° F.) did not prove desirable 

 for the setting of either type of cheese. 



