172 
Cheese Experiments. 
given quantity of milk. In experimental trials it is absolutely 
indispensable to know the strength of the rennet, and to employ 
the same rennet in all the trials. At Wall's Court we took special 
care to fulfil these conditions. 
Our plan of proceeding was as follows : — At about half-past 
eight o'clock, the curd was partially broken and allowed to subside 
for about half an hour, after which the temperature was raised very 
gradually to.lOS"" Fahrenheit, by letting steam into the hollow- 
bottom of the cheese-tub ; the curd and whey, meanwhile, being 
gently stirred with a wire breaker, so that the heat was uniformly 
distributed, and the curd minutely broken. The heat was kept 
at 108^ for an hour, during which time the stirring was continued ; 
the curd now broken into pieces of the size of a pea was then left 
for half an hour to settle. 
The whey was then drawn off by opening a spigot near the 
bottom of the tub. As the curd which is obtained by this pro- 
cess is quite tough, it readily separates from the whey, and^tlo 
pressure whatever is at first requisite to make the bulk of it run 
off in a perfectly clear state. 
The curd collected in one mass was then rapidly cooled and 
cut across into large slices, turned over once or twice, and left to 
drain for half an hour. As soon as it was tolerably dry and had 
cooled down considerably, it was placed under the press and 
much of the remaining whey removed by pressure. After this 
the cheese was broken at first coarsely by hand, and then by the 
curd-mill, which divides it into small fragments. A little salt 
was then added and thoroughly mingled with the curd. 
The next operation was the vatting. The cheese vat, com- 
pletely filled with the broken and salted curd, was covered with a 
cloth ; the curd was reversed in the cloth, put back into the vat, 
covered up and placed in the press. The cheese cloth was 
removed several times, and the cheeses were ready to leave the 
press on the sixth morning. Mr. Proctor's dairy was furnished 
with one of Messrs. Cockey's heating apparatus. This apparatus 
not only maintains a uniform temperature in the room in which 
the cheese is ripened, but provides a supply of steam, by which 
the milk and whey may be kept at any temperature that is 
required ; the necessity of removing a large quantity of milk 
or whey to a boiler to be heated, that it may impart the proper 
temperature to the remainder of the milk or whey in the cheese- 
tub, is thus done away with. As the steam is quickly generated, 
careless dairy-maids sometimes spoil the cheese in a few minutes 
by allowing the temperature to rise too high. When the curd is 
overheated, the cheese made from it is always hard and deficient 
in flavour. 
