December, 1906 



AMERICAN HOMES AND GARDENS 



389 



"half salt" cheeses (Fig. 10), which keep and ship well. 

 Whatever the quantity, the salt should be perfectly dry in 

 order that it may be distributed as uniformly as possible. 



A great deal of attention is now given in French com- 

 mercial dairies to the manufacture of "ripened" cheeses with 

 superficial molds. The most popular sort is "Brie," which 

 has long been in high favor with all classes of consumers. 



As long ago as 1407, Charles d'Orleans used to present 

 his friends with Brie cheeses, and at the end of the sixteenth 

 century, according to the chroniclers, Henri IV relieved the 



called "dressage," is the shaping of the cheeses in tinned iron 

 molds (Fig. 6). With a skimmer the workman cuts hori- 

 zontal slices, thin ami uniform, from the curd and deposits 

 them unbroken in the molds. The latter are placed on rush 

 mats which rest on wooden planks. 



Twelve hours later the cheeses, now considerably dimin- 

 ished in thickness, are transferred from the molds to 

 "eclisses." These are wide bands of sheet zinc, perforated 

 to permit the escape of the remaining whey. One of these is 

 placed around each mold and its ends are fastened together 



by means of a button on one 

 one end and one of a num- 

 ber of slits in the other. 

 When the mold is lifted the 

 cheese remains securely 

 clasped by the zinc band. 

 On this a dry mat is now 

 laid and covered with a 

 plank. The cheese, with its 

 band and both planks and 

 mats, is then inverted and 

 the wet mat and plank, 

 which are now on top, are 

 removed. Ten hours later 

 the cheese is turned again 

 in the same manner and is 

 salted by removing the band 

 and sprinkling salt over the 

 top and side. Ten or twelve 

 hours after the first salting 



4 — Kneading the Mass with a Roller- 

 kneading Machine 



tedium of the siege of Paris with 

 this "royal cheese" of which he 

 was especially fond. 



The manufacture of Brie 

 cheese comprises six operations; 

 renneting, shaking, draining, 

 salting, drying, and ripening. 



As curd is made only once a 

 day it is usually necessary to heat 

 the milk in wooden or copper 

 vats, with steam pipes, to a tem- 

 perature of from 91 to 106 de- 

 grees F. The milk is then si- 

 phoned into tinned iron troughs 



for curdling; sometimes the farmers add 10 per cent, of 

 skimmed milk from the preceding milking. This addition 

 facilitates draining and consequently increases the hardness 

 of the curd and it also favors the growth of the superficial 

 mold. Three teaspoonfuls of rennet suffice to coagulate 500 

 quarts of milk in two hours. 



The making of the curd is a delicate operation and one 

 which greatly influences the quality of the finished product. If 

 the coagulation is too slow the cream rises to the surface and 

 if it is too rapid the result is a dry cheese. 



The morning's milk, which was frothing in the pails a few 

 hours ago, is now transformed into a white gelatinous mass 

 of curd, mixed with whey. The next operation, technically 



3 — Removing the Whey from the Curd by Pressure 



the cheese is turned once more and when the whey has ceased 

 to exude the band is finally removed and the second face is 

 salted. The cheeses are then laid on shelves, on dry straw 

 mats, and are turned night and morning for two days, after 

 which they go to the drying room, a large and well ventilated 

 cellar kept at the temperature of 12 degrees C, and fur- 

 nished with wooden shelves on which the cheeses are laid. 



Here the ripening process commences. In a short time a 

 downy white mold, Penicillium candidum, appears on the 

 surface of the cheese. This fungus destroys the lactic acid 

 and prepares the way for other organisms which complete the 

 ripening process in the ripening cellars to which the cheeses 

 are transferred two weeks later (Fig. 7). Here the cheeses 



