92 



Cheese-making for Small Holders. [may, 



with raised sides and ends, and lined with tin sheeting. This 

 table should slope to one corner, and be provided with an 

 outlet and pipe to allow of proper drainage of the whey 

 from the cheeses into a pail below. One or two well-made 

 oak tubs in which to coagulate the milk are required. These 

 tubs should be of a capacity of 6 gallons each, and be pro- 

 vided with close-fitting wooden lids. The maker will also 

 need a large knife with which to cut the curd, milk-strainer, 

 curd-ladle, skimming-dish, thermometer, cheese-moulds, 

 boards, straw mats, measures, cheese-draining rack, set of 

 shelves at one side of wall, measuring-glasses, pails, brushes, 

 &c. ; also weights up to 28 lb. with which to press cheeses 

 Nos. 1 and 2, and a supply of rennet extract. The meas- 

 uring-glass, i-oz. size, should be sub-divided into drams. The 

 straws for making the mats can be obtained from the straw- 

 plait making districts, near Luton, in Bedfordshire, and 

 should be of wheat straw. The other articles are obtainable 

 from any well-known firm supplying dairy utensils. With 

 the utensils described above, all the four varieties of cheeses 

 described below can be made. 



Pressed Cheese No. 1. — This is a cheese similar in type 

 to the French Port-du-Salut, and not unlike the Welsh 

 Caerphilly. It is a little firmer in texture than the former, 

 and is more quickly made, and requires fewer utensils and 

 accommodation than the latter. Five gallons of fresh sweet 

 milk are required to make one cheese of standard size, and 

 the cheese-moulds are strongly made of tin 10 in. wide by 

 4 in. deep, perforated at the sides, and provided with a 

 close-fitting circular wooden disc or follower. The milk is 

 first raised to a temperature of 92 0 F. to 95 0 F., and rennet 

 in the proportion of 1 dram to each 2 gallons is used to 

 bring about coagulation. The rennet is diluted with water, 

 carefully mixed with the milk, and the contents of the tub 

 stirred twice or thrice during the first four minutes. (It is 

 well to remember at this stage that for all varieties of cheese 

 it is necessary to dilute' the rennet extract with about six 

 times its volume of water before adding to the milk.) The 

 tub is then covered with the wooden lid and left for 30 to 

 35 minutes, when coagulation should be complete. The 

 curd — as the coagulated milk is called — is ready for cutting 



