Page:Foods and their adulteration; origin, manufacture, and composition of food products; description of common adulterations, food standards, and national food laws and regulations (IA foodstheiradulte02wile).pdf/235

 it is said technically to be "corky." It is smooth when it feels velvety-like and is not harsh or gritty.

Texture.—The term texture applied to American cheese refers mainly to its compactness. It is nearly related to body. The texture may be fine and close or porous. The texture is perfect when a cut surface of the inside of the cheese presents to the eye a solid, compact, continuous appearance, free from breaks, holes, or lumps. Cheese should not show any visible or separated moisture or fat. The texture of American cheese should be smooth, free from breaks, and fairly hard. The bandage should be smooth and neat, extending over the edge on each end of the cheese about two inches.

Color.—A true and unadulterated cheese should have only the color of the milk from which it is made, and any other color incident to ripening which is usually green. Unfortunately cheeses of American origin are often artificially colored. An over-deep yellowish or reddish tint, therefore, should be regarded as a mark of inferiority. Artificially colored cheese should not rank as high on the market as that of a natural tint, which is much more pleasing to the eye and much less objectionable to the æsthetic taste. Color is often added to conceal inferiority in the milk used.

The sides of the cheese should be straight and of uniform height all around.

The following scale of points is used in judging cheese, according to the above qualities: Flavor, 45 to 50; texture, 30 to 35; color, 10 to 15; general appearance, 5 to 15.

Cream Cheese.—This is a soft cheese which is rapidly growing in popularity. It is made from rich milk or milk and cream mixed together. It resembles in general Neufchatel, but it is richer in butter fat and is put up in a different form. The temperature of the room in which the cheese is made is quite important. It should be kept as nearly as possible at 75 degrees. The milk is first warmed to 70 degrees and run through a separator by means of which the cream is taken out, together with one-half the volume of milk. This makes either dilute cream or very rich milk, as you may choose to call it. The cream is heated to 84 degrees and about four or five ounces of rennet extract added per thousand pounds. The rennet is carefully and gradually stirred into the mixture, using about fifteen minutes for the addition. The mass is then allowed to remain at rest until whey is seen around the sides. The whey is then removed by draining, the resulting curd pressed and mixed with about 3 percent of salt. The cheese is not subjected to a curing process. It is molded into flat, thin cakes about 3 by 4 inches, wrapped in parchment paper, and in this condition packed for shipment.

Manufacture of Foreign Types of Cheese in the United States.—The improvement of cheeses made in the United States by securing different forms