45o Brie, Pont l'Evequeand other Soft Cheese, [sept., 



The milk is usually brought direct from the cowsheds while 

 retaining its animal heat, and the rennet is added at a tem- 

 perature of from 82 0 to 86° F. About 14 lb. of milk are 

 required to produce a cheese of standard size, and coagula- 

 tion should be complete in about four hours. 



When the curd is ready to be ladled out it should be 

 shorter than is the case with Camembert, and should have 

 shrunk a little in the cheese-tub, to the extent at least that 

 whey appears upon the surface. The hoops or cheese- 

 moulds are usually 10 J ins. in diameter by about 4 ins. in 

 height, and the ladle for scooping out the curd is similar in 

 shape to the old-fashioned cream-skimming dishes in use in 

 many dairies. The moulds are laid singly upon straw mats 

 resting upon boards, and the curd is placed in them in hori- 

 zontal thin slices. 



The best cheeses are made of two curds, as described in 

 the manufacture of Camembert. When the two curds have 

 sunk just below the rim of the lower mould, the upper ring 

 is removed, the cheese is covered with a clean straw mat 

 and a board, and reversed. 



The cheese is again turned at the end of three or four 

 hours, clean mats being used at each turning. It is essential 

 that the mats be crossed at turning so that the marks of the 

 straws show in cross section. This is important, as when 

 the straws are crossed air is admitted more readily to the 

 under surface and ripening is more regular. When the 

 cheese is firm enough to admit of the hoop being removed, 

 it is salted on the surface with fine dry salt, which should 

 be spread very evenly upon the whole surface. After the 

 first salting the cheese is left for from eight to ten hours, and 

 then turned on to a round osier mat termed a clayette. It is 

 then again salted upon the now upper surface and the sides, 

 and removed to a drying room which is kept at a temperature 

 of from 63 0 to 65 0 F., to shelves so placed that gentle currents 

 of air can be admitted over the surface of the cheeses. When 

 placed in this drying room the cheese is solid and rather 

 firm, but friable and very acid. 



In the course of a day or two, if the cheese has been 

 properly made, there should appear upon the surface a white 

 fungus mycelium which grows rapidly in a warm and 



