Composition of Cheese. 
53 
which it is called tallowy. A uniform colour and porfc^ct sliapo 
are therefore to a certain extent indications of a superior (piality ; 
whilst mottled, mis-shaped cheese, almost invariably proves 
tallowy, and in flavour sweet when young, and very strong when 
older. The danger of leaving too much whey in the curd is 
espcciallv great in warm weather, for it is then that the ferment- 
ation of the sugar of milk proceeds most rapidly. 
There are three precautions to be taken against an undue pro- 
portion of whey in the curd : — 
1. Plenty of time should be allowed for the whey to drain off 
properly. 
2. Before the rennet is added, the anilk should be heated to a 
temperature of 12'^ to 75° for thin, or of 80"" to 84-' for thick 
cheese. 
3. The best preventive is the practice of slij>-scaldiiif/, as 
it is called. The operation, which is highly recommended by 
Mr. Harding, one of our best Cheddar cheese-makers, and exten- 
sively pi-actised in Somersetshire, consists of heating a portion of 
the whey, and adding it or hot water to the curd, whilst it is 
still covered with some of the whey, until the temperature 
of the whole be raised to from 95° to 100^. This has the effect 
of making the curd run together into a much smaller compass, 
jind enables the dairymaid to draw off the whey more perfectly 
and with very much less trouble than by the common method. If 
well done, no injury, but every advantage, results from this prac- 
tice. The curd, when slip-scalded, settles down very readily, 
and its closer condition implies that it does not contain so much 
whey as it did before scalding. Hence no skewers are required 
to drain off the whey from cheese that has been slip-scalded, and 
a great deal of subsequent labour and anxiety is avoided by this 
simple process. Slip-scalding, however, ought to be carefully 
performed, and the hot whey or water be poured slowly upon the 
curd by one person, whilst another stirs up the contents of the 
cheese-tub, so as to ensure a uniform temperature throughout. 
The necessity for these precautions will be best understood from 
the following explanation : — When curd, broken up and cut into 
slices, is suddenly and incautiously scalded with boiling water, 
the outer layer of the slices first melts and then becomes hard, 
enveloping the interior, which remains quite soft and full of 
whey. This hard covering acts like a waterproof wrapper, and 
prevents the escape of the whey, however strongly the curd may 
be pressed afterwards ; hence the importance of a gradual and 
careful admixture of the hot whey. Better still is it to employ 
one of Coquet's jacketed tin or brass cheese-tubs, into the hollow 
