
THE CAMEMBERT TYPE OF CHEESE 65 

Fic. 23—Cane bottom for ripening cheese. 
Cut Curd. In France the method generally used consists in 
dipping the curd directly into the forms. Equally good re- 
sults, however, have been obtained here with the curd cut. 
In cutting, the curd knife is passed through the curd in the 
vat in two directions at right angles, thus producing vertical 
columns’ of curd. 
When the curd has been cut in this way, it drains faster 
and for that reason a lower degree of acidity is used than 
with the curd uncut. The most satisfactory acidity with 
cut curd has béen found to be 0.3-0.35 per cent. If it is less, 
the curd is likely to be too soft; if higher, the curd will drain 
too rapidly, will become hard and compact, and will not ripen 
properly. The acidity is tested as follows: A sample of milk 
is taken with a Babcock pipette holding 17.6 cc. and is trans- 
ferred to a glass or beaker. A few drops of phenolpthalein 
are added, and n-1o Na O H is run in from the burette, drop 
by drop, until a pink color just begins to appear. The number 
of cc. of soda solution used, divided by twenty, gives the per- 
centage of acid in the milk. The higher the acidity the less 
rennet it takes. In case the acidity is 0.3 per cent., it will 
