Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IV.djvu/359

 CHEESE 351 squeezed out, and at the same time the reten- tion of too much whey should be avoided, as that will injure its keeping properties. Much of the excellence of the Cheddar system lies in the proper management of the conditions which affect the different processes of the manufac- ture. The following are the chief points re- quiring attention: 1, the early initiation of lactic acid fermentation by using, when indi- cated, sour whey ; 2, the employment of suffi- cient heat to cause the curds to contract and express the whey ; 3, such an exposure to the air as will to the proper extent convert the mi- crococcus into arthrococcus cells, or which will, upon any theory, carry the formation of lactic acid to that degree which, with proper care, will prevent future putrefaction ; and 4, to cool the curds enough to prevent loss of but- ter in pressing. After the cheese is pressed it is taken to the curing room, rubbed with melt- ed fresh butter, and turned over once a day until it is ripened. The curing room should be dimly lighted, to avoid flies as well as the chemical action of light, and sufficiently venti- lated to keep the air pure. The temperature should be well regulated, being kept for the most part at about 70 both in summer and winter. A higher degree produces too rapid ripening, and below 60 the necessary chemical changes will not take place. It sometimes hap- pens that the milk when it is poured into the vat has some taint that will cause it, after the ren- net is added, to take on a fermentation which will result in gaseous products and an offensive flavor and smell. This condition of the milk may be caused by the overheating of the blood of the cows, or from their having partaken of improper food. The effect will be, unless the difficulty is anticipated, the production of what is called floating curds, in consequence of the reduction of their specific gravity by the bub- bles of gas. This floating occurs when the curds are broken and the temperature is raised previous to drawing off the whey. When this phenomenon is seen to be taking place, the temperature of the vat should be raised to 100 to cause greater contraction of the curds, and after the whey is drawn off the draining and exposure to the air should be continued longer than usual in order to develop an increased amount of lactic acid. This will be likely to arrest the putrefactive fermentation, and to get rid of the obnoxious products which have al- ready appeared. When a bad condition of the milk is known or strongly suspected, it should be aerated and cooled as much as possible be- fore going into the vat, and enough more ren- net than usual should be used to produce co- agulation in 30 minutes, and a larger quantity of sour whey than usual should be stirred in at the same time. Some very fine cheeses are made in England by skimming the night's milk and adding it to that of the morning. Such are often called skim-milk cheeses, although the term more strictly applies to those made of milk all of which has been skimmed, leaving 177 VOL. iv. 23 only a small percentage of butter. Some made in Wiltshire and Gloucestershire of partly skimmed milk are said by Dr. Volcker to com- pare favorably with good Cheddar, the de- ficiency in butter being made up by other good qualities. It is the opinion of many good cheese makers that milk may be too rich in butter for the best quality of cheese that will keep well. If nearly all the cream is skimmed from milk, it will not be possible to make it into good cheese, at least by the ordinary Eng- lish process. At creameries and in the butter- making districts in this country, as well as in England, the making of skim-milk cheeses is practised to a certain extent. The process differs but little from that of making whole- milk cheeses ; but as they do not ripen or cure as soon or as evenly, they are made smaller and thinner. The coagulation of milk by means of hydrochloric acid, as it is practised in Holland in making the most excellent cheeses, deserves more attention than it has hitherto received in other countries. The pro- cess is attended with much less difficulty than when rennet is employed, and the coagulation is more complete, yielding an increased pro- duct. All the butter is retained in the curd, and the danger of after fermentation is also greatly diminished by avoiding the use of fungous ferments, whose control is always more or less difficult. The principal objection seems to be an ascribed want of flavor, which among most cheese fanciers, especially in Eng- land, requires to be somewhat gamy. The Dutch cheese has a sharp taste and high keep- ing qualities, and notwithstanding it may lack what is called mellowness, its flavor is pre- ferred by many. It probably possesses the ad- vantage of being less liable than cheese co- agulated by rennet to contain deleterious or poisonous principles. There are more varieties of cheese made in Europe than in America, which may be in part attributed to the greater attention which is paid there to economy in food. They may be classified into cream cheeses, whole-milk cheeses, and skim and sour-milk cheeses. To the first class belong Neufchatel, Vaschrein, Brie, cream Cheddar, and Cotherstone. Neufchatel is made of pure cream thickened by heat and compressed in a mould. It is made at Neufch&tel-en-Bray, a small town in the department of Seine-Infe- rieure, France, 25 m. N. E. of Eouen. It is esteemed as a great delicacy, but, from the difficulty of preserving its good qualities, can scarcely be appreciated far from the locality where it is made. Brie, which is also a French cheese, and the Vaschrein of Switzerland, are also made of the purest cream. Both Neufchd- tel and Brie cheeses are now largely made in the state of New Jersey, and can be brought to the New York and Philadelphia markets in a better condition than if imported. Stilton and cream Cheddar are made by adding the cream of one milking to the whole milk of the next, in the proportion of one quart of cream