igo6.] 



Cold Curing of Cheese. 



427 



This result pointed to the fact that the curing of cheese was due 

 at least partially to other agencies than bacteria, and led to the 

 discovery of galactase — an enzyme natural to milk, which has 

 the power of breaking down the casein. Subsequently, five 

 temperatures were employed, viz., 15 deg., 33 deg., 40 deg., 

 50 deg. and 60 deg. F., and it was found that 40 deg. and 

 50 deg. F. gave the best result according to the market standard 

 at that time. In another series cheese cured at 60 deg. F. was 

 stated to be superior in flavour to that cured at five lower tempera- 

 tures at some periods of its ripening. In summing up the work 

 done at this station, however, attention was called to the fact 

 that the cheese cured in cold storage was much more uniform in 

 quality than that cured under the old conditions. It was stated 

 that most factories suffered considerable loss from the rejection 

 of cheese because of its inferior quality. It was pointed out that 

 such losses were in part due to the use of tainted milk and to 

 variation in manufacturing details, but in a large measure they 

 might be ascribed to variation in curing conditions due to 

 inefficient methods, and of these conditions temperature was 

 by far the most important. With cheese cured at lower 

 temperatures the effect of these factors was much modified, 

 with reference not only to the conditions which occurred in the 

 curing, but also to the variations in conditions of manufacture. 

 The result showed that with a lower temperature the quality of 

 the cheese is more uniform, and the product ought naturally 

 to bring a somewhat higher price, and be more sought after by 

 the buyer. A recommendation was also made that the cheese 

 should be put into cold storage direct from the hoop. 



Cold storage warehouses are found in many of the towns in 

 the cheese districts of Wisconsin, and the practice now is to 

 place cheese in storage within two weeks or less after it is made. 

 Curing in the cheese factory is said to be a thing of the past 

 in all places where a storage warehouse is at all accessible. 



In Canada experiments have been carried out by the Ontario 

 Agricultural College with approximately similar results, but 

 presumably, owing to the fact that cold storage warehouses are 

 less general than in the United States, the erection of cool curing 

 rooms on a co-operative basis has been recommended. For these 

 rooms a temperature of 50 deg. was suggested as being less ex- 



