CHAPTER X. 
CURING AND SHIPPING THE CHEESE. 
193. Changes in Curing Cheese. 
When the cheese is coagulated by rennet, the coagulum 
is called paracasein. In curing, the cheese undergoes changes 
into the following products in the order named. Paracasein 
changes by the action of lactic acid into paracasein-monolactate 
(lactic-acid-paracasein), para-nuclein, caseoses, peptones, amides 
and ammonia. The first changes are from a substance insolub!s 
in water to soluble substances. These substances do not have 
much flavor, but as the amides develop the characteristic flavor 
appears. Dr. Van Slyke has shown, by careful chemical analy- 
ses extending over a period of 35 weeks that the rate of the 
formation of these decomposition products is dependent upon 
the temperature. 
194. Curing at Different Temperatures. 
-Cheese will cure slowly at low temperatures and improve 
in flavor and texture. At the Wisconsin Experiment Station 2 
cheese kept at 15° F. for 5 months was found to have cured 
perfectly and to te of a very fine quality, with the exception 
that the freezing had made the texture crumbly. As the tem- 
perature is raised the cheese cures faster. At 60° to 65° the 
most rapid curing takes place at which a good cheese can be 
obtained. A temperature of 70° for any protracted length of 
time will injure the texture and flavor, while a temperature of 
80° will spoil the best kind of cheese. 
195. Curing Shelves, How Made. 
The cheese should be cured on shelves made of good clear 
pine, one and a half inches thick by sixteen inches wide, sup- 
ported every four feet. The reason for having the lumber clear is 
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