FANCY CHEESES 361 



whey. Then the vertical knife is used in cutting crosswise, 

 after which the horizontal knife is at once used. Any curd 

 adhering to the bottom and sides of the vat is carefully re- 

 moved by the hand, after which the curd knife is again passed 

 through the mass of curd lengthwise and crosswise, continuing 

 the cutting until the curd has been. cut as uniformly as possible 

 into very small pieces. 

 Treatment of curd after cutting. 



When the cutting is completed, then one commences at once to 

 heat the curd up to the temperature of 93° to 96° F. The heat- 

 ing is done as quickly as possible. While the heating is in prog- 

 ress, the curd is kept constantly agitated to prevent settling 

 and consequent over-heating. As soon as the curd shows 

 signs of hardening, which the experience of the worker will 

 enable him to determine, the whey is drawn off until the upper 

 surface of the curd appears, when one should commence to fill 

 the press-molds. 

 Filling molds, pressing and dressing cheese. 



The molds, which are described later in detail, are well soaked 

 in warm water previous to use, in order to prevent too sudden 

 chilling of curd and consequent checking of separation of whey. 

 As soon as whey is drawn off, as indicated 

 above, one commences to fill the pressing molds 

 (see Fig. 60). The filling should be done as 

 rapidly as possible to prevent too great cool- 

 ing of curd. When the curd has been put 



into the molds, its temperature should not be Fig. 60. Mold 



below 88° F. Unless care is taken to keep the for making Edam 

 curd covered, the portion that is last put into 

 the molds may become too much cooled. In making Edam cheese 

 on a small scale, it is a good plan to squeeze the moisture out 

 by the hands as much as possible and then break it up again 

 before putting in the molds, when the curd should be pressed 

 into the mold by the hands as firmly as possible. The molds 



