NEUFCHATEL CHEESE. (American Agriculturist.)

Waikato Times, Volume V, Issue 291, 24 March 1874, Page 2

NEUFCHATEL CHEESE. (American Agriculturist.)

The N«w York market, is now pretty well supplied with home-made Neufohatel cheese from German dairies in New. Jersey. There in a good demand for them at paying prices, and there is no doubt that an .increased supply would only lead to increased consumption. These cheeiea are about 2} inches long and about'li inch in diameter. They are sent to market wrapped in thin paper, which is also sometimes covered with tin-foiL There is a great difference in the quality, of different makes. Those sold at the fruit stands on Broadway ar» little more than " pot-cheese " pressed into a solid mass and wrapped for market. The best French cheeses of this class are made and ripened with great care. They are usually made from whole milk, which immediately after being drawn i» strained into crocks and treated with rennet. The crocks are then stood into boxes which are covered with woollen cloth. After having stood forty-eight hours the crocks are emptied into a basket lined with a clean white cloth, and standing ow* cloth to drain. After twelve hours the corners of the cloth are folded closely over tke curds, which thus enveloped are placed within a press and left for twelve hours. They are then put into a stronglinen cloth, in which they are thoroughly kneaded and ' rubbed in every part until the caseous and buttery parts , are perfectly mixed and made into a hooiogeneous paste. If this paste is too soft the cloth is changed until the surplus moisture i» withdrawn. If it is too hard and dry mere curds, are. added from that of the next milking (which is now draining) . The mould, which is open at both ends, is then rather more than tilled with the paste It is held upright over a table with the left band, while tbe top is patted down with the palm of the right hand so as to completely fill the whole mould . The surplus is thencut away, and the little cheese is pushed, cut from the mould. Tbe cheese after moulding is dusted on the two ends with very tine and dry salt, that accidentally remaining on , the hands being sufficient for salting the sides. It is then stood on a board, not touching its neighbours, and left to drain f or twenty-four hours. The cheeses of thi» making are then carried to the storeroom, where they are laid on their beds of clean straw (on shelves), being placed in uniform rows crosswise of the straw, and being about the distance of their diameter from each other. Two dajs later th«y are turned, each one being rolled hslf-vay over; this brings them on to dry places in the straw. Thiee days later tb«y are turned up on end and stood on the spare between the original rows. After fiye days they are reversed and placed on their ends, and here they stand live days longer. They are now sixteen days old, and bare become somewhat dry, a skin being formed over them. If , they are not now coatfd wi h a slight blue mould they are again reversed and allowed to stand longer. When, this mould has appeared they are taken to a dry, cool room, where they are turned (end for end) every five days, and they are watched (with much care as to atmospheric conditions) until they are well coated with a reddish globular mould. If the processes have all been well managed this mould will appear uniformly on all sides, and the ripening will be equal throughout. After this they are turned less > frequently, first once in ten days and then once a fbrtnight. At the end of three months they should be sold, as soon . after this time they will begin to run. Welf-made Neufchatel cheese should be a homogeneous * paste, free from granulation, and spreading smoothly like butter. The care and close attention which the manufacture demands justifies the high price that the well-made article fetches in the European markets— a price which the more simply made Ataerioan imitation cannot command.