UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
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1 BULLETIN No. 970 
Contribution from the Bureau of Animal Industry 
JOHN R. MOHLER, Chief 
Washington, D. C. 
August 29, 1921 
MANUFACTURE OF COWS'-MILK ROQUEFORT 
CHEESE. 
By K. J. Matheson, Dairy Manufacturing Specialist, Dairy Division. 
CONTENTS. 
Page. 
The manufacture of imported Roquefort 2 
Composition and characteristics of Roquefort. 3 
Composition of sheep's milk (j 
The manufacture of cows '-milk Roquefort (> 
Preparation of mold powder for inoculation. . 9 
Ripening the cheese 17 
Equipment for curing Roquefort 18 
Phenomena of ripening 
Losses in curing 
Use of tin foil 
Cost of manufacture 
Possibilities for domestic Roquefort. 
Summary 
Page. 
20 
23 
24 
25 
2(3 
27 
Restricted importations of foreign cheese during the war period 
increased the price of these products and created a demand for 
information concerning their manufacture. Numerous attempts 
have been made to manufacture, in the United States, some varie- 
ties of foreign cheese, of which 63,000,000 pounds were imported 
by this country during 1914. Success has attended the making of 
some of these kinds of cheese; attempts to make others have resulted 
in absolute failure. 
For several years the Dairy Division, Bureau of Animal Industry, 
conducted experimental work to develop a method of manufacture 
whereby at least one of the green-mold varieties of cheese, all of 
which bring high prices, could be made in the United States. As a 
result of the work this paper gives information on the manufacture 
of domestic Roquefort cheese from cows' milk, likewise some of the 
difficulties that may be encountered in manufacturing cows'-milk 
Roquefort cheese. 
Roquefort is one of the highest-priced cheeses on the American 
market. It is a French mold-ripened cheese made from sheep's 
milk and has been known for 20 centuries. Pliny, 1 in his book on 
natural history, referred to this cheese, or cheese of this type, as 
Pline L'Ancien (Pliny the Elder). Histoire naturelle, Book XI, chapter 97 (42). 
49195°— 21— Bull. 970 1 
