Page:Willich, A. F. M. - The Domestic Encyclopædia (Vol. 1, 1802).djvu/533

Rh of the vats into the cheese tubs again; broken small, and scalded with a pailful of water, lowered with whey, about three parts water to one of whey; and the whole is briskly agitated, the curd and water being equally mixed together. After having stood a few minutes, to let the curd subside, the liquor is poured off; and the former collected into a vat, the surface of which is, when about half full, sprinkled with a little salt, that is worked in among the curd. The vat is then filled up, and the whole mass turned two or three times in it, the edges being pared, and the middle rounded up at each turning. At length, the curd is put into a cloth, and placed in the press, whence it is carried to the shelves, and turned, generally, once a day, till it has acquired a sufficient degree of compactness, to enable it to undergo the operation of washing.

IV. . The milk which produces this cheese is run, as it comes from the cow, or as it happens to be lowered, by the small quantity of skim-milk mixed with it. The curd is first broken with the hand and dish, care being taken, in first crushing the curd, to let the whey run off gradually, to prevent its carrying away with it the "fat" of the cowl. For thin cheese, the curd is not broken so fine as in Gloucestershire; for thick cheese, it is crushed still finer; and, for what is called loaves, it is, in a manner, reduced to atoms. The whey is poured off as it rises, and the curd pressed down. The mass of curd is then pared down, three or four times over, in slices about an inch thick, in order to extract all the whey from it, pressed, and scalded in a similar manner to the Gloucester cheese. After separating the whey, the curd is, in some dairies, re-broken, and salted in the cowl; while, in others, it is taken warm out of the liquor, and salted in the vat: thin cheeses being placed, with a small handful of salt, in one layer; thick ones, with two small handfuls, in two layers; loaves, with two handfuls, in three or four layers; the salt being spread, and rubbed uniformly among the curd. Wiltshire cheese is commonly salted twice in the press, where it remains, in proportion to its thickness; thin cheeses, three or four meals; thick ones, four or five; and loaves, five or six.

V.. The superiority of this cheese, both in delicacy and flavour, is not ascribed to any particular management of the dairies, but solely to the fragrant nature of the herbage on the.

VI. , or. The curd used in making this cheese, is "broken up" in the whey, which is poured off, as soon as the former has subsided; the remainder, with the curd, being thrown into a coarse strainer, and exposed for cooling, is then pressed as tightly as possible; after which, it is put into a vat; and set in a press, for a few minutes, to discharge the remaining whey. When all the liquid part is drained off, the curd is taken out, again broken as finely as possible, salted, and returned to the press.—In some large dairies, mills are employed for breaking the curd.—This kind of cheese is much used at sea, as being less liable to be affected by the heat of warm climates, than others.

VII. is held in high estimation; but its goodness is attributed chiefly to the land on which the cows feed, as Rh