FANCY CHEESES 363 



cheese is placed in a salting mold with a coating of fine salt 

 completely surrounding it. The cheese is salted in this way 

 once each day for 5 or 6 days. Each day the cheese should be 

 turned when it is replaced in the mold, so that it will not be 

 rounded on one end more than the other. This is for the purpose 

 of making both ends uniform in shape, giving each the proper 

 rounding peculiar to the shape of the cheese. In the method 

 o£ wet-salting, the cheese is placed in a tank of salt brine, made 

 by dissolving common salt in water in the proportion of about 

 one pound of salt to 2| quarts of water. Each cheese is turned 

 once a day and should be left in the brine 7 or 8 days. When the 

 cheese is taken from the salting mold or salt bath it is placed in 

 warm water and is given a vigorous, thorough brushing in order 

 to remove all slimy or greasy substances that may have accu- 

 mulated on the outer surface of the cheese. When the surface 

 of the cheese is well cleansed, it is carefully wiped dry with a 

 linen towel and placed upon a shelf in the curing room. In 

 being placed on the shelves, the cheese should be placed in 

 contact so as to support one another, until they have flattened 

 out at both ends so much that they can stand upright alone. 

 Then they are placed far enough apart to allow a little air space 

 between them. Another method of securing the flattened ends is 

 to support each cheese on opposite sides by wedge-shaped pieces 

 of wood. After they are placed on the shelves in the curing 

 room, they are turned once a day and rubbed with the bare hand 

 during the first month, twice a week during the second month, 

 and once a week after that. When any slimy substance appears 

 on the surface of the cheese, it should be washed off at once with 

 warm water or sweet whey. The special conditions of the cur- 

 ing room will be noticed in detail below. When the cheeses are 

 about two months old, they can be prepared for market, which 

 is done in the following manner : They are first made smooth 

 on the surface by being turned in a lathe or in some other manner, 

 after which the surface is colored. For coloring, some carmine 



