Manufacture of Cheddar Cheese. 



T79 



apparatus the cheese-maker can determine the acidity of the 

 whey, and so decide when to draw this off, and by so doing 

 will secure not only the proper development of acidity in the 

 future stages of cheese-making, but also materially diminish 

 the time which the cheese takes to make. Moreover, it has 

 been found that the acidity of the whey which drains 

 from the curd, when in the cooler, is a sufficiently accurate 

 guide to the condition of the curd before grinding, and by 

 securing uniformity in this acidity, the cheese-maker can also 

 ensure uniformity in the quality and ripening properties of 

 the cheese. Whether the cheese be made on Cannon's 

 system, Candy's system, or the Scotch system, the 

 acidity of the liquid from the press must invariably 

 be uniform from day to day. It should only vary 

 within narrow limits. Speaking generally, the acidity o 

 this liquid should never fall below o'So per cent., or rise 

 above 1*20 per cent., and the nearer it can be kept to roo 

 per cent, the better. 



But the accurate determination of these acidities will not 

 alone ensure a good cheese. Equally important will it be 

 to pay strict attention to temperature, time, and every other 

 factor which can be accurately determined. These points 

 must also be recorded. " No cheese-maker," Mr. Lloyd 

 says, " can ever hope to attain success unless a careful 

 record of the work done daily is kept ; and every cheese, 

 before being taken to the curing-room, should have sewn 

 on it a label showing the date of manufacture. Then,, 

 whether the cheese be good or bad, it will be possible to 

 turn back to the record and discover the cause of this 

 success or failure." 



With reference to the duration of the curing period, cheese- 

 makers are reminded that a cheese, when ripe, is at its best r 

 and that from that time it begins to deteriorate. The warmer 

 the room in which the cheese is kept, the more rapid is both 

 the ripening and the subsequent falling off. Hence it arises that 

 cheese made late in the season keeps better and longer than 

 that made early. The early made cheese is ripening in a 

 continually rising temperature ; the process of ripening is 

 therefore continually increasing in rapidity. The late made 



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