Page:The English housekeeper, 6th.djvu/381

Rh in the pan, press it down hard, then a layer of salt, press that down, then more butter, and so on: allowing 1 oz. of salt to every lb. of butter. If too salt, it can be freshened by being washed in cold water, before it is sent to table. Always keep the top well covered with salt, and as that turns to brine, more salt may be required. Tie paper over, and keep the pan in the dairy, or cellar. Some persons use one quarter part of lump sugar, and the same of saltpetre, to two parts of common salt.

The milk should be just lukewarm, whether skimmed or not. To a pailful put 2 table-spoonsful of rennet, cover the milk, and let it stand, to turn: strike down the curd with the skimming dish, or break it with the hand, pour off the whey, put the curd into a cheese-cloth, and let two persons hold the four corners, and move it about, from side to side, to extract the whey: lay it into the vat, fold the cloth smoothly over the cheese, cover it with the lid of the vat, and put a weight of 10 or 12 lbs. on the top. Let it stand twelve hours; then take it carefully out, put it on a wooden trencher, or a clean hanging shelf, and sprinkle salt thickly over the top. The next day, wipe it dry all over, turn it the other side upwards, sprinkle salt on the top, and repeat this every day, for a week: after that, turn it every day, and occasionally wipe it.—Another: to 6 quarts new milk, add 2 quarts lukewarm water, and sufficient rennet to turn it: when the curd is settled put it into a small vat, about a foot square, and 1½ inch deep, with holes in the bottom; place a lid on it, and put on that a lb. weight, for a day.—Another: put 5 quarts of the last of the milking into a pan, with 2 table-spoonsful of rennet; when the curd is come, strike it down with the skimming dish two or three times, to break it: let it stand two hours. Spread a cheese-cloth on a sieve, put the curd on it, and let the whey drain; break the curd with the hand, put it into a vat, and a 2 lbs. weight on the top. When it has stood twelve hours, take it out and bind a cloth round it. Turn it every day, from one board to another. Cover the cheese with nettle leaves, and put it between 2 pewter plates, to ripen. It will be ready in three weeks.