464 



THE GARDEN AND FIELD. 



March, 1914 



Stilton Cheese. 



This cheese derives its name 

 from a villtrcre in Himtin<jdonshire. 

 Xowadavs, Leicestershire is ren-ard- 

 ed as the chief seat of the manu- 

 facture, thoujrh it is bv no means 

 limited to that country, and can, 

 in fact, be made practically any- 

 where if certain conditions can be 

 obtained. 



The first essential is sfood pas- 

 ture-fed milk, and it is because of 

 the excellence of the pastures in 

 the IMidland counties that the best 

 cheese is still often considered as 

 beincr made there only. Yet the 

 fact that American Stilton finds 

 quite a good sale in the Bnelish 

 markets proves that the mere 

 localitv is not by any means indis- 

 pensable to the production of a 

 srood payings article. 



The necessity of ha^'ing pasture- 

 fed milk decides the bef^innincr of 

 the Stilton cheese-makinsf season. 



As to the actual details of man- 

 ufacture, the milk s-hould be used, 

 il possible, before it has lost its 

 natural heat. This ensures that it 

 shall be perfectly sweet, and where 

 it can be obtained, the necessity of 

 heatinsT it up again after it has 

 cooled to this temperature, is 

 avoided. This is one of the little 

 peculiarities of the method xipon 

 which ereat stress is laid by some 

 cheese-makers and in some locali- 

 ties. If the milk is boug-ht, or if 

 the cheese-making is undertaken 

 on a larn-e scale, warming up to 

 t>>is temperature, 8;; deg. to 86 

 df^T. P., is necessary. Tn the earlv 

 sTiriuT or latp autumn, the tem- 

 "proture should be well up to the 

 hi"-hpr of these two temperatures, 

 and that of the makiuf^-room 

 <!hAuld not be allowed to fall be- 

 low 6^ deg. F. 



— Kenneting. — 



The rennet used may be either 

 the commercial extract or the 

 home-made article. The latter is 

 still the more widely used, but 

 the variation in the strength and 

 ftualitv which is often noticed is a 

 considerable drawback to its usp. 

 For convenience and utiiformity in 

 both strenp^th and nuality, the ex- 

 tract is undoubte-dK- superior. The . 

 ouantity of +he latter to be used 

 is one drachm to every four or 

 five (Tallons of milk, accordiucr to 

 tempernture used and quality of 

 the milk. 



If the home-made article is 

 used, Toz. of rennet should go to 

 five gallons of milk, though here 

 the quality of the rennet varies 



so widely in some cases, that three 

 or four times this amount is ne- 

 cessary to produce the coagulation 

 at the right time. 



The beginning of ' coagulation 

 should appear in fourteen or fifteen 

 minutes, and the curd should be 

 ready for ladling in about an hour 

 and a half. Whiche^'er variety of 

 rennet is used, this result must be 

 looked for, and with many practi- 

 cal cheese-makers the time of for- 

 mation of the curd is regarded as 

 a much jnore accurate guide than 

 any amount of scientific testing of 

 the strength of the rennet.. 



The thorough, yet gentle, stirring 

 in of the rennet for eicrht or ten 

 minutes, is of the first import- 

 ance, so that its effect in produc- 

 infr coagulation may be absolutelv 

 Tmiform throughout the whole of 

 the milk. The stirriufr has the ad- 

 ditional advantap-e that it prevents 

 the cream from rising. 



— When the Curd is Fully Set — 



it is ladled out of the vat with a 

 tin scoop holdinpr about half a gal- 

 lon, into the straining cloths. E'ach 

 of these is about a yard square, 

 and will hold from three and a halt 

 to four orallons of curd. If in the 

 act of ladlinp-, the curd is cut vt> 

 into slices, this will frreatlv heln 

 the draininp- of the wbev, but this 

 is not desirable. The cloths con- 

 taining the curd are l^ft ,staudin<T 

 in the curd sinks for an hour or an 

 hour and a half— the lono- time if 

 it is soft. The whev is then Vft 

 olT, and the cloths are lio-btlv tied 

 by^takiufT three of fhe cortiprs to- 

 ""ether and bindino- thptn with the 

 fourth. The whey is draxnm off by 

 removipo- thp nbig- from the sink, 

 and it should then be rppl^ced, and 

 the curd should be allowed to re- 

 main in the whey which again col- 

 lects bv draining out. 



The draininp- is helped by tight- 

 eninsr the cloths every hour or so 

 durinpr the first eight hours, but 

 care must be taken that in doing 

 this, the curd shall not be crush- 

 ed. By this time the curd will 

 have become somewhat solid. 



Variations in the quality of ihe 

 cheese obtained, are prodnced l)y 

 allowinp- it to remain for a longer 

 or shorter period in the whey, 

 fud it is here that the practice of 

 diflerent cheese-makers varies. If 

 the curd is sweet, it may remain 

 loncer in the whev. Tif^htening the 

 cloths too frpquently tends to i)ro- 

 fbice a curd which is too drv 

 Practice and experience alone will 

 serve as the ri^ht guide in these 

 matters. 



At the end of eight of nine hours 

 the curd is found to be sufficientlv 

 firm to be turned out of the cloths 

 and laid in the draining sink with 

 a li.ght cotton cloth thrown oyer 

 it. It is sometimes cut up into 

 4-in. squares before being laid in 

 the sink. 



The curd gains acidity and be- 

 comes firm over night, while oxi- 

 dation is slowly going on. 



Next morning it is ready for 

 breaking up, and this is usually 

 done with the fingers, and salt is 

 added at the rate of i oz. to every 

 ^% Ihs. of curd. 



Many seedsmen and a few far- 

 mers test their seeds. 



Milk-sugar when converted into 

 4actic acid by bacteria makes 'the 

 milk curdle. Rennet can do like- 

 wise. 



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