26 The Story of Cheese 



After lying in cold water for two hours and in brine for thirty 

 hours it is dried and smoked until it attains a fine golden color. It 

 is made in various sizes, from 5 to 20 pounds, and the yield is said 

 to vary from 10 to 16% of the milk. Caccio Cavallo is eaten on 

 bread as well as with macaroni and is much relished by the Italians. 



Limburger, Brick and other similar semi-soft cheese of the 

 proverbial strong flavor originated respectively in Belgium and 

 Bavaria, but are now largely made in Northern New York and 

 Wisconsin as well. 



The milk is set with rennet at a comparatively low temperature 

 and the curd is cut while quite soft, care being taken, however, not 

 to lose butter-fat. The curd is not salted in the vat but is dipped 

 out into perforated wooden boxes or molds about .5 inches square 

 and left to drain without pressure. The cheese are placed edge- 

 ways like bricks on shelves and are rubbed with salt and turned 

 every day until cured. During the curing process moisture exudes 

 and a fermentation takes place which develops the well-known 

 "Limburger" flavor. After eight or ten weeks the cheese is packed 

 in paper and tinfoil and is ready for the market. 



SOFT RENNET CHEESE 



The soft cheese made with rennet may be classified as fresh 

 and cured. 



Neufchatel. The fresh soft cheese of the Neufchatel or Cream 

 Cheese type is easily made and may be produced in any house from 

 a small quantity of milk. The milk is set at a comparatively low 

 temperature, usually 72° F., with very little rennet, just enough to 

 coagulate the milk in about eighteen hours. During that time a 

 slight acidity develops in the milk. When it is firmly curdled it is 

 carefully dipped on to cheese-cloth suspended on a frame, or into 

 cotton bags where it drains over night. 



To make the cheese quickly a starter is sometimes used and more- 

 rennet employed. The milk is heated to 80° F., 25% starter and 

 71/2 c. c. of rennet extract, or one rennet tablet per hundred pounds- 

 of milk, is added and the milk curdles in about .30 minutes. 



After draining for a few hours the curd is gently pressed for a 

 similar time. When the whey is fairly well expelled, the curd is 

 kneaded or run through a meat cutter with a little salt, not more 



