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“MANUFACTURE OF COTTAGE CHEESE 5 
the vat. Too rapid heating or stirring tends to break the particles 
so that the resulting cheese does not have the proper flakes in the 
finished product. A wooden rake may be used for this purpose. 
The texture of cottage cheese is controlled by the temperature at 
which the curd is heated, the length of time heated, and the extent 
of draining. Considerable variation as to temperature and time of 
heating and draining is found necessary, depending upon the con- 
dition of the curd. 
Heating the curd to a temperature of 115° to 125° F. favors the 
rapid expulsion of whey, but care must be taken that the product 
does not become too tough and dry. Ordinarily one-half hour to 
one and one-half hours is required to heat a 5,000-pound vat of skim 
milk to this point, at which time the whey is generally removed. The 
usual test for judging the proper time to remove the whey is to 
squeeze a handful of the curd; if the curd particles cohere in a gela- 
tinous mass, the curd is too soft; when the mass becomes open and 
porous, and readily breaks up on being rubbed between the hands, 
it is time to withdraw the whey. Experience will serve as a guide to 
the right length of time and the best temperature for heating. 
DRAINING AND WASHING THE CURD 
When the heating has continued for the proper length of time, the 
free whey is drawn off from the bottom of the vat through a strainer, 
which prevents the loss of curd particles. The curd must then be 
more thoroughly drained to bring it to a sufficiently dry condition for 
salting. Draining is sometimes done by transferring the curd to a 
drain rack lined with a cloth which serves as a filter. (Fig. 5.) 
When the drain rack is used, the curd is transferred to it, and the 
greater portion of the remaining whey passes through the drain 
cloth quickly. An occasional manipulation of the drain cloth, rolling 
the curd back and forth in the rack, hastens drainage. The extent of 
drainage necessary depends upon the texture of cheese desired, the 
length of time the curd was previously heated, and the temperature 
of heating. Ifthe whey is too completely separated from the curd the 
cheese may be too dry. To prevent this it is usual to wash the curd 
with cold water, which checks further separation yet at the same 
time removes the whey already separated. Free whey in the finished 
cheese tends to create a strong sour flavor. When the drain rack is 
used two people are required to handle the cheese effectively. 
The trench system of drainage is now more extensively used than 
the drain-rack system. In this case the various operations of wash- 
ing, salting, and creaming the cheese are all carried out in the orig- 
inal setting vat. The curd is washed first with warm water, then 
with lukewarm water, and finally with cold water. When the curd 
has been partially cooled with cold water before the removal of the 
whey, it may be washed immediately with cold water. All the 
whey is removed before washing with cold water, unless the curd 
shows signs of becoming too dry, which does not happen frequently. 
If this should happen, however, the cold water is run in immediately, 
before much of the whey has been withdrawn. After the curd has 
been sufficiently washed the water is drained as completely as pos- 
sible, and the curd is piled along each side of the vat, forming a 
