DRAWING THE WHEY—DIPPING AND MILLING THE CuRD. 69 
143. Washing Curds. 
A poor curd can be greatly improved by washing it. When 
put onto the racks, and before it has had time to mat, a few 
pails of water at a temperature of 105° F. will wash out a great 
deal of the taint. 
It is not, as a general rule, a good practice to wash curds. 
A light washing will improve a tainted curd, but the lactic acid 
is washed out with other substances and without lactic acid a 
fine Cheddar flavor cannot be obtained. This has been shown by 
extensive experiments. Sweet-curd cheese made from sweet 
milk never develops the characteristic Cheddar flavor. Unless 
two-tenths of a per cent of lactic acid in the whey is developed, 
this flavor will be lacking in the cheese. Curds that have an 
excessive amount of acid in the whey may appear to be improved 
in quality by washing during the first month of curing, but af- 
ter that time, when it is usually beyond the maker’s observation 
and in the wholesale dealer’s hands, it will develop a ragged 
texture and a bad flavor, like a sweet-cured cheese which has 
been exposed to a high temperature.* 
It has been shown at the Wisconsin Experiment Station 
that the lactic acid and the milk sugar hold the gas germs in 
check. If it is necessary to wash the curd very much, cane 
sugar applied at the rate of two and a half pounds to the hun- 
dred pounds of curd will keep the undesirable fermentations in 
check. 
144. Use of a Curd Sink. 
It is much easier to get the curd onto the racks and expel 
the whey, by using a curd sink. Nor is as much fat lost in the 
operation, for where the curd mats together in the vat before it 
can be gotten onto the racks, it is necessary to break it apart to 
let the whey out, and the unavoidable bruising causes a heavy 
loss of fat. 
145. Proper Form of Curd Sink. 
The common form of curd sink, with an opening along the 
whole length of the bottom, is to be avoided. The sink should 
* Under a ruling by the Federal Board of Food and Drug Inspection 
dated Oct. 15, 1908, cheese made from curd soaked in water cannot be sold 
as Cheese, but must be labeled “Soaked Curd Cheese,” if sold in inter-state 
commerce, in the District of Columbia or the Territories. 
