CHEESE MAKING.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 778, 12 June 1877, Page 2

CHEESE MAKING.

Cheese-making is as much a trade as shoe-making, and one. might as well expecb : to succeed m making fine boots by rules laid down .m a newspaper article 'as to. expect to make fancy cheese by such directions. I will, however/give the directions as clearly and minutely as I can. Mf more than one milking is to be used, as is generally the' case "m making family cheesy- heat the last milking— the new. warm' milk, and not the old cold milk, as is often done— hot enough to raise the cold milk to a temperature of about 85 degrees. The mode of heating must be left to the operator, with the caution not to let it burn on to the bottom of the vessel m which it is heated. No matter how hot the new milk is heated ; it will not injure it for cheese-making to heafc it to boiling heat. It will, indeed, be all the better for a good scalding; This might not fee the case m heating cold milk, and hence the propriety of heating the new. Skim the old milk, and put the cream into a muslin slraiuer and turn on new milk, at about lOOdeg, till the cream is all washed through.- Do this after the cold milk lias becomewarm, so that the cream, after being warmed up, shall not get cool again. This skimming- should, of course, be done before the milk is warmed. - A wooden tub, something like a good new wash-tub, of suitable size, is a good vessel to make the curd m, as heat will not radiate from: its sides and cool the milk like a metallic vessel. Supposing the milk to be m such a tub, and warmed to- 85deg, aad the cream all washed through the strainer into the milk, and tho roughly mixed, it will now be ready for the application of rennet. Liquid rennet^ which you can get of a druggist, or pepsine will do ; but : the direct steepings of the dried stomach are preferred, and are very much cheaper. A rennet which will cost 20 cents will curdle the milk for 300 or 4001 bof cheese. Begin three or four days before hand, and soak the rennet m two quarts of weak brine, stirring 1 and rubbing it often, to get the strength soaked out before beginning to use it. In warm weather the brine should be strong, to keep the- rennet from spoiliug. Stir the contents of the rennet dish every time before using, and use one part rennet to a. thousand parts of milk, and mix well. Take a littte of the milk from the tub after. the rennet has been mixed- with it, and warm it to 100 degrees, and note the time it takes to curdle. It will take four or five times as long for milk to curdle at 85 degrees as it will at 100. If, when warmed to 100, it does not curdle m six or eight minnbes, add rennet till it will. Then cover the tub closely with a cloth, so that the top of the whey and curd shall not get cooler than the r?st, and let it stand till the curd becomes so hard that, m passing your hand through it, the curd will split open before your finger. Then move the cover aad cut the curd into £-iuch cubes "with as. little friction as possible, and cover the tub so as to prevent cooling. When the curd has settled so that you can dip off a bulk of whey equal to 10 per cent, of the milk m the tub, do so, and heat the whey to 120 cleg., and turn it back into the tub, stirring the curd so that.it will all warm alike. When you think the lumps of cimls have b.scome warmed through, heat another balch of whey a. little hotter, and turn into the curd and stir as before, and .so on till the whole muss is raised to 9S or 100 degrees. Whilo the heating is going on, the curd must be kept from slicking together, and the finer it is kept the more readily and evenly will it heat, ]fasX the better will be tho cheese, lii*k'p.ak, ing up the curd to keop it fine, and m stirring it ,to prevent it from sticking together, the manipulations should be carefully douo, so as not to waste the richness of the milk. The fatty part of t.he milk is, for the most part, mechanically held m the curd, and if violence is done to the curd, especially while soft and tender, the cream ruus off m the whey, and you get a skim milk cheese as effectually as if you had skim milk to 'be^in with. As the curd grows harder, less and less stirring will be required to keep the lumps from adhering, till at length it may lie without stirring for some time. When it is nob b.eing stirred keep the tub covered to prevent cooll ing. While the curd is lying hi the whey, ab about 9.8 degree^ to ripen, try it occasionally by taking a little curd and pressing it m your fingers into an elongated lump, and . apply one end to an iron surface which is hot enough to make water simmer. When the curd will adhere to th,e hot iron so as to draw out m strings or threads as you pull the curd from the iron, it is ripe enough to be taken from the whey and salted and put into the press. It will not be ripe enough for the press fill the curd will stick to the hot iron, but it may be removed from the whey as soon, as it will begin to adhere to the iron. As soon as the curd is ripe enough, dip off the whey and place the curd on a muslin strainer over a sieve or basket to drain and cool. When thoroughly drained, salt at the rate of 2§lb of salt for 1001 bof curd, as near as you can, estimate, and mix evenly. Qool the curd to 75 deg. or 80 deg. and put to press. Before putting the curd into the hoop put a press cloth into the hoop which shall be large enough to reach above the top of the hoop, then

fill m the curd, turn the edges of the press cloth over the curd, and lay on a * follower,' and it is ready to go under the press. In calculating the size of a .hoop necessary to hold the curd you /expect to make, itinay be some help to know that a pound of

pressed cheese measures about 50 Cubic inches. The unpressed curd will of corrse take up some more space. Begin pressing moderatily at first and increase the pressure gradually nntii it reaches about 52 pounds for each square inch m the tace of the follower. A screw

makes a very convenient press for

pressing small cheeses; but if you ' do not hapen to have a convenient press at hand, and prefer not to secure one to start with, a lever may be used for a temperary press.

Not having a press at hand, I have

this winter used a strong scantling 16 feet long. [Fastening a stud on the side of a building perpendicularly so that the lower end should reach to the desired distance above the floor, I placed one end of the soantling under the end of the stud, and used the cheese for a fulcrum, pressing down with the scantling as if to raise the building. The weight

of the scantling was enough, to be-^ gin with, and , afterwards weights were addedjall the necessary power •was obtained. Such a device may answer till you. measure your skill at cheese-making, and then, if. de-

sired, more convenient arrangements

can be made. After pressing till the. curd iswellstuk together, say three or

four hours, turn the cheese upside down m the press, taking off the press cloth and putting on another, and press firmly for about twelve hours longer j then grease the surface to keep it from drying too fast and sticking, and, if necessary, put a bandage around the outside to keep it from ; spreading, and place it where it will-have a steady temperature ranging from seventy to seventy-five degrees, as near as may

be, and turn and rub for a while,

and then every other day, and from four to six weeks you will have a

cheese ripe enong'b to cut. The time required for a cheese to cure varies with the amountof rennetusedin making it, and with the temperature of the room m which ib is kept. It varies ; from ten days to six months. Dairymen now Use double the quantity of rennet they did fifteen years ago, and the time of ripening has been reducod from three months

to about thirty days as an average tor whole-milk cheese. Skim cheese requires much longer lime;—-' Farmers Gazette.'