Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/532

498] some time, is taken from the curd, which sinks to the bottom, and is then collected into a part of the tub, provided with a slip, or loose board, to cross the diameter of the bottom, for the sole purpose of effecting this separation; on which a board is placed, weighing from 60, to 120 pounds, in order to press out the whey. As soon as it acquires a greater degree of solidity, it is cut into slices, and turned over several times, to extract all the whey, and again pressed with weights: these operations may consume about an hour and a half. It is then taken from the tub, and broken very small by the hand, salted, and put into a cheese vat, the depth of which is enlarged by a tin hoop fitted to the top. The side is then strongly pressed, both by hand, and with a board at the top, well weighted; and wooden skewers are placed round the cheese, at the centre, which are frequently drawn out. It is then shifted out of the vat, a cloth being previously put on the top of it, and reversed on the cloth into another vat, or again into the same, if well scalded, before the cheese be returned to it. The top, or upper part, is next broken by the hand, down to the middle, salted, pressed, weighted, and skewered, as before, till all the whey is extracted. This being done, the cheese is again reversed into another vat, likewise warmed, with a cloth under it, and a tin hoop, or binder, put round the upper edge of the cheese, and within the sides of the vat; the former being previously inclosed in a cloth, and its edges put within the vessel. These various operations are performed from about seven o'clock in the morning till one at noon. The pressing of the cheese requires about eight hours more, as it must be twice turned in the vat, round which thin wire skewers are passed, and shifted occasionally. The next morning it ought to be turned, and pressed again, as likewise at night, and on the succeeding day; about the middle of which it is removed to the salting-room, where the outside is salted, and a cloth binder tied round it. After this process, the cheese is turned twice daily, for six or seven days; then left two or three weeks to dry, during which time, it is once turned, and cleaned every day; and at length deposited in the common cheese-room, on a boarded floor, covered with straw, where it is turned daily, till it acquires sufficient hardness. The room should be of a moderate warmth, but no wind, or draught of air, must be permitted to enter, as this generally cracks the cheese. The outsides, or rinds of them, are sometimes rubbed with butter, or oil, in order to give them a coat.

III. is made of milk immediately from the cow; but which, in summer, is thought too hot, and is, therefore, lowered to the requisite degree of heat, before the rennet is added, by pouring in skim-milk, or, if that will not answer, by the addition of water. As soon as the curd "is come," it is broken with a double cheese knife, and also with the hand, in order to clear it from the whey, which is laded off. The curd, being thus freed from the principal part of the whey, is put into vats, which are set in the press for ten or fifteen minutes, in order to extract all the remaining liquid. It is then turned out of