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See also:CHEESE AND CHEESE-MAKING For generations, perhaps for centuries, the question has been discussed as to why there should be so large a proportion of See also:bad and inferior cheese and so small a proportion of really See also:good cheese made in farmhouses throughout the See also:land. That the result is not wholly due to skill and care or to the See also:absence of these qualities on the See also:part of the dairymaid may now be taken for granted. Instances might be quoted in which the most painstaking of dairymaids, in the cleanest of dairies, have failed to produce cheese of even second-See also:rate quality and See also:character, and yet others in which excellent cheese has been made under See also:commonplace See also:Total or See also:Original Manure-Value per Ton of See also:Food consumed— that is, only deducting the Constituents in Fattening Increase or in See also:Milk. Nos. , Description of Food. For the Produc- tion of Fattening ` Increase For the See also:Production of Milk, supposing the Yield per See also:Head per See also:Day to be as under—6 qts. 8 qts. – 10 qts. 12 qts. ' 14 qts. £ s, d. £ s. d. £ s, d. s. d. £ s, d. £' s. d. See also:Linseed . 119 2 I 14 7 I 12 0 I 9 6 7 I 4 5 2 Linseed cake 2-. I r I I 2 8 I 2 6 O 2 3 10 `2' '9I 19 8' 3 Decorticated 3 14 3 7 4 3 3 See also:cotton cake 9 3 1 1 2 3 9 2 4 3 5 4 See also:Palm-See also:nut cake . t 6 4 13 2 I I 4 0 19 .5 0 17 9 0 15 II 5 Undecorticated 119 cotton cake 2 5 3 2 2 4 2 0 8 2 I 17 6 I I'S 11 6 See also:Cocoa-nut cake . 19 10 I 16 It I 15 3 I'13. 9 See also:iI2 3 I 10 6 7 See also:Rape cake 2 16 5 I 14 2 2 12 II 2 I'I 7 2 Io 4 2 9 i 8 Peas T 16 5 I 13 I I II 2 I '9' 6 1 7 8 I 59 9 Beans 2 I I'I I 18 7 I 16 IO I14II I13 I- III 4 10 Lentils , 2 0 8 r 17 5 I 15 7 1 13 9 1; 12 2 I 10 I" 11 Tares (See also:seed) 2 I I 1 17 I I I 16 o I 14 2..: 1, 12 6 I IO. 7
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See also: It is . now known that whilst various micro-organisms, which in many dairies have See also:free See also:access to the milk, have ruined an in- calculable.. quantity of cheese—and of See also:butter also-neither cheese nor butter of first-rate quality can be made without the aid of lactic See also:acid bacilli. As an illustrative See also:case, mention may be made of that of two most painstaking dairymaids who had tried in vain to make good cheese from the freshest of milk in the •onsumed for the Production of Fattening Increase, with those when the Food is consumed necessary, the use of a culture practically by Cows giving different Yields of Milk. pure is imperative, whether such culture organism; (2) this organism abounds in all samples of sour milk and sour whey; (3) the use of a whey starter is attended with results equal in every respect to those obtained from a milk-starter. It is well within the See also:power of any dairyman to prepare what is practically a pure culture of the same bacterium as 'is supplied from the laboratory. Moreover, the sour-whey be obtained from the laboratory or pre-pared by what may be called the " See also:home- made starter." Pure' cultures' may be bought for a few shillings in the open See also:market. The factory-made cheese of See also:Canada, the See also:United States and See also:Australasia, which is so largely imported into the United See also:Kingdom, is all of the See also:Cheddar type. The factory See also:system has made no headway in the original home of the Cheddar cheese in the See also:west of See also:England. The system was thus described in the See also:Journal of the See also:British Dairy Farmers' Association in 1889 by Mr R. J. See also:Drummond: In the See also:year 1885 I was engaged as cheese instructor by the See also:Ayrshire Dairy Association, to See also:teach the See also:Canadian system of Cheddar cheese-making. I commenced operations under many difficulties, being a total stranger to both the See also:people and the See also:country, and with this, the quantities of milk were very much less than I had been in the See also:habit of handling. Instead of having the milk from 500 to 1woo cows, we had to operate with the milk from 25 to not over 6o cows. " The system of cheese-making commonly practised in the See also:county of See also:Ayr at that See also:time was what is commonly' known as the See also:Joseph See also:Harding or See also:English Cheddar system, which differs from the Canadian system in many details, and in one particular is essentially different, namely, the manner in which the necessary acidity in the milk is produced. In the old method a certain quantity of sour whey was added to the milk each day before adding the rennet, and I have no doubt in my own mind that this whey was often added when the milk was already acid enough, and the consequence was a spoiled cheese. " Another objection to this system of adding sour whey was, should the stuff be out of See also:condition one day, the same trouble was inoculated with the milk from day to day, and the result was sure to be See also:great unevenness in the quality of the cheese. The utensils commonly in use were very different to anything I had ever seen before; instead of the oblong cheese vat with See also:double casings, as is used by the best makers at the See also:present time, a tub, sometimes of See also:tin and sometimes of See also:wood, from 4 to 7 ft. in See also:diameter by about 30 in. deep, was universally in use. Instead of being able to See also:heat the milk with warm See also:water or See also:steam, as is commonly done now, a large can of a capacity of from 20 to 30 gallons was filled with See also:cold milk and placed in a See also:common hot-water See also:boiler, and heated sufficiently to bring the whole See also:body of the milk in the tub to the desired tem- perature for adding the rennet. I found that many mistakes were made in the quantity of rennet used, as scarcely any two makers used the same quantity to a given quantity of milk. Instead of having a graduated measure for measuring the rennet, a common See also:tea-See also:cup was used for this purpose, and I have found in some dairies as See also:low as 3 oz. of rennet was used to too gallons of milk, where in others as high as 6; oz. was used to the same quantity. This of itself would cause a difference in the quality of the cheese. " Coagulation and breaking completed, the second See also:heating was effected by dipping the whey from the curd into the can already starter used by some of the successful cheese-makers before the introduction of the See also:American system is in effect a pure culture, from which it follows that these men had, by empirical methods, attained the same end as that to which bacteriological See also:research cleanest of dairies `in See also:North See also:Lancashire. See also:Advice to resort to the use of the ferment was acted upon, and the result was a See also:revelation and a transformation, excellent See also:prize-winning cheese being made from that time forward. By the addition of a starter," in the See also:form of a small quantity of sour milk, whey or buttermilk, in an advanced See also:stage of See also:fermentation, the development of acidity in the See also:main body of milk is accelerated. It has been ascertained that the starter is practically a culture of bacteria, which, if desired, may be obtained as a pure culture. See also:Professor J. R. See also: If he finds that his milk See also:works best at a temperature of 68° F. in the morning, his study the night before should tend toward such a result, and he will soon learn by experience how best to See also:manage the: milk in his own individual dairy. I have found in some dairies that the milk worked quite fast enough at a temperature of 64° in the morning, where in others the milk set in the same way would be very much out of condition by being too sweet, causing See also:hours' of delay before matured enough to add the rennet. Great care should be taken at this point, making sure that the milk is properly matured before the rennet is added, as impatience at this stage often causes hours of delay in the making of a cheese. I advise taking about six hours from the time the rennet is added till the curd is ready for salting, which means asix-hours' process; if much longer than this, I have found by experience that it is impossible to obtain the best results. The cream should always be removed from the night's milk in the morning and heated to a temperature of about 84° before returning it to the vat. To do this properly and with safety, the cream should be heated by adding about two-thirds of warm milk as it comes from the cow to one-third of cream, and passed through the See also:ordinary milk-strainers. If colouring See also:matter is used, it should be added fifteen to twenty minutes before the rennet, so as to become thoroughly mingled with the milk before coagulation takes See also:place. '' We use from 4 to 41 oz. of See also:Hansen's rennet See also:extract to each See also:I00 gallons of milk, at a temperature of 86° in See also:spring and 84° in summer, or sufficient to coagulate milk See also:firm enough, to cut in about See also:forty minutes when in a proper condition. In cutting, great care should be taken not to bruise the curd. I cut lengthwise, then across with perpendicular See also:knife, then with See also:horizontal knife the same way of the perpendicular, leaving the curd in small cubes about the See also:size of ordinary peas. Stirring with the hands should begin immediately after cutting, and continue for ten to fifteen minutes See also:prior to the application of heat. At this stage we use a See also:rake instead of the hands for stirring the curd during the heating process, which lasts about one See also:hour from the time of beginning until the desired temperature of too° or 102° is reached. After heating, the curd should be stirred another twenty minutes, so as to become properly firm before allowing it to See also:settle. We like the curd to See also:lie in the whey fully one hour after allowing it to settle before it is ready for See also:drawing the whey, which is regulated altogether by the condition of the milk at the time the rennet is added. At the first indication of acid, the whey should be removed as quickly as possible. I think at this point lies the greatest See also:secret of cheese-making—to know when to draw the whey. " I depend entirely on the hot-See also:iron test at this stage, as I consider it the most accurate and reliable guide known to determine when the proper acidity has been See also:developed. To apply this test, take a piece of See also:steel See also:bar about 18 in. long by t in. wide and ; in. thick, and heat to a See also:black heat; if the iron is too hot, it will See also:burn the curd; if too cold, it will not stick; consequently it is a very See also:simple matter to determine the proper heat. Take a small quantity of the card from the vat and compress it tightly in the See also:hand, so as to expel all the whey; See also:press the curd against the iron, and when acid enough it will draw fine silky threads '-, in. long. At this stage the curd should be removed to the curd-cooler as quickly as possible, and stirred till dry enough to allow it to See also:mat, which generally takes from five to eight minutes. The curd is now allowed to stand in one end of the cooler for See also:thirty minutes, when it is cut into pieces from 6 to8 in. square and, turned, and soon every See also:half-hour until it is See also:fit for milling. After removing the whey, a new acid makes its See also:appearance in the body of the curd, which seems to depend for its development upon the See also:action of the See also:air, and the presence of which experience has shown to be an essential See also:element in the making of a cheese. This acid should be allowed to develop properly before the addition of See also:salt. To determine when the curd is ready for salting, the hot-iron test is again resorted to; and when the curd will draw fine silky threads I+ in. long, and at the same time have a soft velvety feel when pressed in the hand, the butter-fat will not separate with the whey from the curd. I generally advise usinglb of salt to 5o lb of curd, more or less, according to the condition of the curd. After salting, we let the curd lie fifteen minutes, so as to allow the salt to be thoroughly dissolved before pressing. In the pressing, care should be taken not to press the curd too . severely at first, as you are See also:apt to lose some of the butter-fat, and with this I do not think that the whey will come away so freely by heavy pressing at first, We advise three days' pressing before cheese is taken to the curing-See also:room. All cheese should have a See also:bath in water at a temperature of 120° next morning after being made, so as to form a good skin to prevent cracking or chipping, The temperature of the curing-room should be kept as near 6o°. as possible at all seasons of the year, and I think it a eood See also:plan to ventilate while heating." With regard to the hot-iron test for acidity, Mr F. J. See also:Lloyd, in describing his investigations on behalf of the Bath and West of England Society, states that cheese-makers have long known that in both the manufacture and the ripening of cheese the acidity produced—known to the chemist as " lactic acid "~-materially influences the results obtained, and that amongst other drawbacks to the test referred to is the uncertainty of the temperature of the iron itself. He gives an, See also:account,' however, of a chemical method involving the use of a See also:standard See also:solution of an See also:alkali (soda), and of a substance termed an " See also:indicator " (See also:phenolphthalein), which changes See also:colour according to whether a solution is acid or alkaline. The apparatus used with these reagents is called the acidimeter. The two stages in the manufacture of a Cheddar cheese most difficult to determine empirically are-(i) when to stop stirring and to draw the whey, and (2) when to grind the curd. The introduction of the acidimeter has done away with these difficulties; and though the use of this apparatus is not actually a condition essential to the manufacture of a good cheese, it is to many makers a See also:necessity and to all an See also:advantage. By its use the cheese-maker can determine the acidity of the whey, and so decide when to draw the latter off, and will thus secure not only the proper development of acidity in the subsequent changes of cheese-making, but also materially diminish the, time which the cheese takes to make. Furthermore, it has been proved that the acidity of the whey which drains from the curd when in the cooler is a sufficiently accurate guide to the condition of the curd before grinding; and by securing uniformity in this acidity the maker will also ensure uniformity in the quality and ripening properties of the cheese. Speaking generally, the acidity of the liquid from the press should never fall below o•8o% nor rise above i•ao%°, and, the nearer it can be kept to I•00% the better. Simultaneously, of course, strict See also:attention must be paid to temperature, time and every other See also:factor which can be accurately determined. Analyses of large See also:numbers of Cheddar cheeses manufactured in every See also:month of the cheese-making See also:season show the See also:average See also:composition of ripe specimens to be—water, 35.58%; fat, 31.33; casein, 29.12; See also:mineral matter or ash, 3.97. It has been maintained that in the ripening of Cheddar cheese fat is formed out of the, curd, but a comparison of analyses of ripe cheeses with analyses of the curd from which the cheeses were made affords no See also:evidence that this is the case. ' The quantity of milk required to make i lb of Cheddar cheese may be learnt from Table X., which shows the results obtained at the cheese school of the Bath and West of England Society in the. twit seasons of 1899 and 1900. The cheese was sold at an average See also:age of ten to twelve See also:weeks. In 1899 a total of et,220 gallons of milk yielded 20,537 lb of saleable cheese, and in 'goo, 31,808 gallons yielded 29,631 lb. In the two years together 53,028 gallons yielded 5o,i68 ib, which is See also:equivalent to 1 .o5 See also:gallon of milk to i lb of cheese. For See also:practical purposes it may 1 See also:Report on Cheddar Cheese-Making, See also:London, 1899. be taken that one gallon, or slightly over to lb. of milk, yields 1 lb of pressed cheese. The prices obtained are added as a matter of See also:interest. See also:Cheshire cheese is largely made in the county from which it takes its name, and in adjoining districts. It is extensively consumed in See also:Manchester and See also:Liverpool, and other parts of the densely populated county of See also:Lancaster. The following is a description _ of the making of Cheshire cheese: The evening's milk is set apart until the following morning, when the cream is skimmed off. The latter is poured into a See also:pan which has been heated by being placed in the boiling water of a boiler. The new milk obtained See also:early in the morning is poured into the See also:vessel containing the previous evening's milk with the warmed cream, and the temperature of the mixture is brought to about 750 F. Into the vessel is introduced a piece of rennet, which has been kept in warm water since the preceding evening, and in which a little See also:Spanish annatto (; oz. is enough for a cheese of 60 lb) is dissolved. (Marigolds, boiled in milk, are occasionally used for colouring cheese, to which they likewise ishpart a pleasant avour. In See also:winter, carrots scraped and boiled in milk, and afterwards strained, will produce a richer colour; but they should be used with moderation, on account of their See also:taste.) The whole is now stirred together, and covered up warm for about an hour, or until it becomes curdled; it is then turned over with a bowl and broken very small. After See also:standing a little time, the whey is See also:drawn from it, and as soon as the curd becomes somewhat more solid it is cut into slices and turned over repeatedly, the better to press out the whey. The curd is then removed from the tub, broken by hand or cut by a curd-breaker into small pieces, and put into a cheese vat, where it is strongly pressed both by hand and with weights, in See also:order to extract the remaining whey. After this it is transferred to another vat, or into the same if it has in the meantime been well scalded, where a similar process of breaking and expressing is repeated, until all the whey is forced from it. The cheese is now turned into a third vat, previously warmed, with a See also:cloth beneath it, and a thin See also:loop of binder put See also:round the upper edge of the cheese and within the sides of the vat, the cheese itself being previously enclosed in a clean cloth, and its edges placed within the vat, before See also:transfer to the cheese-See also:oven. These various processes occupy about six hours, and eight more are requisite for pressing the cheese, under a See also:weight of 14 or 15 cwt. The cheese during that time should be twice turned in the vat. Holes are bored in the vat which contains the cheese, and also in the See also:cover of it, to facilitate the extraction of every drop of whey. The pressure being continued, the cheese is at length taken from the vat as a firm and solid See also:mass. On the following morning and evening it must be again turned and pressed ; and also on the third day, about the See also:middle of which it should be removed to the salting-chamber, where the outside is well rubbed with salt, and a cloth binder passed round it which is not turned over the upper See also:surface. The cheese is then placed in brine extending half-way up in a salting-tub, and the upper surface is thickly covered with salt. Here it -emains for nearly a See also:week, being turned twice in the day. It is then See also:left to dry for two or three days, during which See also:period it is turned once—being well salted at each turning—and cleaned every day. When taken from the brine it is put on the salting benches, with a wooden girth round it of nearly the thickness of the cheese, where it stands a few days, during which time it is again salted and turned every day. It is next washed and dried; and after remaining on the drying benches about seven days, it is once more washed in warm water with a See also:brush, and wiped dry. In a couple of hours after this it is rubbed all over with sweet whey butter, which operation is afterwards frequently repeated; and, lastly, it is deposited in the cheese- or See also:store-roomwhich should be moderately warm and sheltered from the access of air, lest the cheese should crack—and turned every day, until it has become sufficiently hard and firm. These cheeses require to be kept a considerable time. As a matter of fact, there are three different modes of cheese-making followed in Cheshire, known as the early ripening, the See also:medium ripening and the See also:late ripening processes. There is also a method which produces a cheese that is permeated with " See also:green See also:mould " when ripe, called " Stilton Cheshire "; this, however, is confined to limited districts in the county. The early ripening method is generally followed in the spring of the year, until the middle or end of See also:April; the medium process, from that time till late autumn, or until early in See also:June, when the late ripening process is adopted and followed until the end of See also:September, changing again to the medium process as the season advances. The late ripening process is not found to be suitable for spring or late autumn make. There is a decided difference between these several methods of making. In the early ripening system a larger quantity of rennet is used, more acidity is developed, and less pressure employed than in the other processes. In the medium ripening process a moderate amount of acidity is developed, to cause the natural drainage of the whey from the curd when under press. In the late ripening system, on the other hand, the development of acidity is prevented as far as possible, and the whey is got out of the curd by breaking down finer, using more heat, and skewering when under press. In the Stilton Cheshire process a larger quantity of rennet is used, and less pressure is employed, than in the medium or late ripening systems. It is hardly possible to enunciate any general rules for the making of Stilton cheese,which differs from Cheddar and Cheshire in that it is not subjected to pressure. Mr J. See also:Marshall See also:Dugdale, in 1899, made a visit of inspection to the See also:chief See also:Leicester-See also:shire dairies where this cheese is produced, but in his reports he stated that every Stilton cheese-maker worked on his own lines, and that at no two dairies did he find the details all carried out in the same manner. There is a See also:fair degree of uniformity up to the point when the curd is ladled into the straining-cloths, but at this stage, and in the treatment of the curd before salting, diversity sets in, several different methods being in successful use. Most of the cheese is made from two curds, the highly acid curd from the morning's milk being being mixed with the comparatively sweet curd from the evening's milk. See also:Opinion varies widely as to the degree of tightening of the straining-cloths. No test for acidity appears to be used, the amount of acidity being judged by the taste, feel and See also:smell of the curd. When the desired degree of acidity has developed, the curd is broken by hand to pieces the size of small walnuts, and salt is added at the rate of about 1 oz. to 4 lb of dry curd, or 1 oz. to 31 lb of wet curd, care being taken not to get the curd pasty. If a maker has learnt how to rennet the milk properly, and how to secure the right amount of acidity at the time of hooping—that is, when the broken and salted curd is put into the wooden hoops which give the cheese its shape—he has acquired probably two of the most important details necessary to success. It was formerly the See also:custom to add cream to the milk used for making Stilton cheese, but the more general practice now is to employ new milk alone, which yields a product apparently as excellent and mellow as that from enriched milk. As a cheese matures or becomes fit for See also:consumption, not only is there produced the characteristic flavour See also:peculiar to the type of cheese concerned, but with all varieties, independently of the quality of flavours developed, a profound See also:physical transformation of the casein occurs. In the course of this See also:change the firm elastic curd " breaks down "—that is, be,emes plastic, whilst chemically the insoluble casein is converted into various soluble decomposition products. These ripening phenomena—the production of flavour and the breaking down of the casein (that is, the formation of proper texture)—used to be regarded as different phases of the same process. As subsequently shown, however, these changes are not necessarily so closely correlated. The theories formerly advanced as explanatory of the ripening changes in cheese were suggestive rather than based upon experimental data, and it is only since 1896 that careful scientific studies of the problem have been made. Of the two existing theories, the one, which is essentially See also:European, ascribes the ripening changes wholly to the action of living organisms—the bacteria present in the cheese. The other, which had its origin " The Practice of Stilton Cheese-Making," fours:. See also:Roy. Agric. Soc., 1899. facture of Cheddar Cheese. When Made. Milk, Green Saleable Shrinkage. See also:Price. Cheese. Cheese. See also:galls. lb lb per cwt. April 1899 3077 3100 2924 6 per cent. 6os. May . 4462 4502 4257 6} lb per cwt. 63s. . 4316 4434 4141 7 lb 6 oz. per cwt. 7os. June 3699 3785 3545 7 lb 2 oz. per cwt. 74s. See also:July • See also:August 2495 2539 2353 8 lb 3 oz. per cwt. 74s. See also:Sept. and Oct. 3171 3583 3317 8 lb 5 oz. per cwt. 74s. April 1900 . 3651 3505 3292 6 per cent. 63s. May . 6027 6048 5577 7z per cent. 64s. June . 5960 5889 5466 7; per cent. 68s. uly and Aug. 7227 7177 6630 7'1 per cent. 66s. Sept. and Oct. 8943 9635 8666 10 per cent. 66s. in the United States, asserts that there are See also:digestive enzymes—that is, unorganized or soluble ferments—inherent in the milk itself that render the casein soluble. The supporters of the bacterial theory are ranged in two classes. The one, led by See also:Duclaux, regards the breaking down of the casein as due to the action of liquefying bacteria (Tyrothrix forms). On the other hand, von Freudenreich has ascribed these changes to the lactic-acid type of bacteria, which develop so luxuriantly in hard cheese like Cheddar. With regard to the American theory, and in view of the important practical results obtained by Babcock and See also:Russell at the See also:Wisconsin experiment station, the following account' of their work is of interest, especially as the subject is of high practical importance. In 1897 they announced the See also:discovery of an inherent See also:enzyme in milk, which they named galactase, and which has the power of digesting the casein of milk, and producing chemical decomposition products similar to those that normally occur in ripened cheese. The theory has been advanced by them that this enzyme is an important factor in the ripening changes; and as in their experiments bacterial action was excluded by the use of anaesthetic agents, they conclude that, so far as the breaking down of the casein is concerned, bacteria are not essential to this process. In formulating a theory of cheese-ripening, they have further pointed out the necessity of considering the action of rennet extract as a factor concerned in the curing changes. They have shown that the addition of increased quantities of rennet extract materially hastens the rate of ripening, and that this is due to the See also:pepsin which is present in all commercial rennet extracts. They find it easily possible to differentiate between the proteolytic action—that is, the decomposing of proteids—of pepsin and galactase, in that the first-named enzyme is incapable of producing decomposition products See also:lower than the peptones precipitated by See also:tannin. They have shown that the increased solubility—the ripening changes —of the casein in cheese made with rennet is attributable solely to the products peculiar to peptic digestion. The addition of rennet extract or pepsin to fresh milk does not produce this change, unless the acidity of the milk is allowed to develop to a point which experience has shown to be the best adapted to the making of Cheddar cheese. The rationale of the empirical process of ripening the milk before the addition of the rennet is thus explained. In studying the properties of galactase it was further found that this enzyme, as well as those present in rennet extract, is operative at very low temperatures, even below freezing-point. When cheese made in the normal manner was kept at temperatures ranging from 25° to 450 F. for periods averaging from eight to eighteen months, it was found that the texture of the product simulated that of a perfectly ripened cheese, but that such cheese developed a very mild flavour in comparison with the normally-cured product. Subsequent storage at somewhat higher temperatures gives to such cheese a flavour the intensity of which is determined by the duration of storage. This indicates that the breaking down of the casein and the production of the flavour peculiar to cheese are in a way See also:independent of each other, and may be independently controlled—a point of great economic importance in commercial practice. Although it is generally believed that cheese ripened at low temperatures is apt to develop a more or less See also:bitter flavour, the flavours in the cases described were found to be practically perfect. Under these conditions of curing, bacterial activity is inoperative, and these experiments are held to furnish an independent See also:proof of the enzyme theory.
Not only are these investigations of interest from the scientific standpoint, as throwing See also:light on the obscure processes of cheese-curing, but from a practical point of view they open up a new See also: These conditions may all be avoided by this low-temperature curing process, and it is not improbable that the cheese See also:industry may undergo important changes in methods of treatment. With ' Experiment Station See also:Record, xii. 9 (See also:Washington, 1901). the introduction of cold-storage curing, and the necessity of constructing centralized plant for this purpose, the cheese industry may perhaps come to be differentiated into the manufacture of the product in factories of relatively cheap construction, and the curing or ripening of the cheese in central curing stations. In this way not only would the losses which occur under present practices be obviated, but the improvement in the quality of the cured product would be more than sufficient to cover the cost of cold-storage curing. The characteristics of typical specimens'of the different kinds of English cheese may be briefly described. Cheddar cheese possesses the aroma and flavour of a nut—the so-called " nutty " flavour. It should melt in the mouth, and taste neither sweet nor acid. It is of flaky texture, neither hard nor crumbly, and is firm to the See also:touch. It is early-ripening and, if not too much acid is developed in the making, long-keeping. Before all others it is a See also:cosmopolitan cheese. Some cheeses are " See also:plain," that is, they possess the natural paleness of the curd, but many are coloured with annatto—a practice that might be dispensed with. The average weight of a Cheddar cheese is about 70 lb. Stilton cheese is popularly but erroneously supposed to be commonly made from morning's whole milk with evening's cream added, and to be a " double-cream " cheese. The texture is waxy, and a See also:blue-green mould permeates the mass if well ripened; the flavour is suggestive of decay. The average weight of a Stilton is 15 lb. Cheshire cheese has a fairly firm and See also:uniform texture, neither flaky on the one hand nor waxy on the other ; is of somewhat See also:sharp and piquant flavour when fully ripe; and is often—at eighteen months old, when a well-made Cheshire cheese is at its best—permeated with a blue-green mould, which, as in the case of Stilton cheese, contributes a characteristic flavour which is much appreciated. Cheshire cheese is, like Cheddar, sometimes highly-coloured, but the practice is quite unnecessary; the weight is about 55 lb. See also:Gloucester cheese has a firm, somewhat soapy, texture and sweet flavour. Double Gloucester differs from single Gloucester only in size, the former usually weighing 26 to 30 lb, and the latter 13 to 15 lb. Leicester cheese is somewhat loose in texture, and mellow and moist when nicely ripened. Its flavour is " clean," sweet and mild, and its aroma pleasant. To those who prefer a mild flavour in cheese, a perfect Leicester is perhaps the most attractive of all the so-called " hard cheese; the average weight of such a cheese is about 35 lb. See also:Derby cheese in its best forms is much like Leicester, being " clean " in flavour and mellow. It is sometimes rather flaky in texture, and is slow-ripening and long-keeping if made on the old lines; the average weight is 25 lb. Lancashire cheese, when well made and ripe, is loose in texture and is mellow; it has a piquant flavour. As a See also:rule it ripens early and does not keep long. See also:Dorset cheese—sometimes called " blue vinny " (or veiny)—is of firm texture, blue-moulded, and rather sharp-flavoured when fully ripe; it has See also:local popularity and the best makes are rather like Stilton. See also:Wensleydale cheese, a local See also:pro-duct in North See also:Yorkshire, is of fairly firm texture and mild flavour, and may almost be spread with a knife when ripe; the finest makes are equal to the best Stilton. Cotherstone cheese, also a Yorkshire product, is very much like Stilton and commonly preferable to it. The blue-green mould develops, and the cheese is fairly mellow and moist, whereas many Stiltons are hard and dry. See also:Wiltshire cheese, in the form of " Wilts truckles," may be described as small Cheddars, the weight being usually about 16 lb. See also:Caerphilly cheese is a thin, See also:flat product, having the appearance of an undersized single Gloucester and weighing about 8 lb; it has no very marked characteristics, but enters largely into local consumption amongst the See also:mining See also:population of See also:Glamorganshire and See also:Monmouthshire. Soft cheese of various kinds is made in many localities, beyond which its reputation scarcely extends. One of the See also:oldest and best, somewhat resembling Camembert when well ripened, is the little " Slipcote," made on a small See also:scale in the county of See also:Rutland; it is a soft, mellow, moist cheese, its coat slipping off readily when the cheese is at its best for eating—hence the name. Cream cheese is like-See also:wise made in many districts, but nowhere to a great extent. A good cream cheese is fairly firm but mellow, with a slightly acid yet very attractive flavour. It is the, simplest of all cheese to make—cream poured into a perforated See also:box lined with loose See also:muslin practically makes itself into cheese in a few days' time, and is usually ripe in a week. In See also:France the pressed varieties of cheese with. hard rinds include See also:Gruyere, See also:Cantal, Roquefort and See also:Port Salut. The first-named, a See also:pale-yellow cheese full of holes of varying size, is made in See also:Switzerland and in the See also:Jura Mountains See also:district in the See also:east of France; whilst Cantal cheese, which is of lower quality, is a product of the midland districts and is made See also:barrel-shape. Roquefort cheese is made from the milk of ewes, which are kept chiefly as dairy animals in the See also:department of See also:Aveyron, and the cheese is cured in the, natural See also:mountain caves at the See also:village of Roquefort. It is a small, rather soft, white cheese, abundantly veined with a greenish-blue mould and weighs between 4 and 5 lb. The Port Salut is quite a See also:modern cheese, which originated in the See also:abbey of that name in See also:Mayenne; it is a thin, flat cheese of characteristic, and not unattractive odour and flavour. The best known of the soft unpressed cheeses are See also:Brie, Camembert and See also:Coulommiers, whilst See also:Pont 1'Eveque, Livarot and other varieties are also made. After being shaped in moulds of various forms, these cheeses are laid on straw mats to cure,, and when fit to eat they possess about the same consistency as butter. The Neufchatel, See also:Gervais and Bondon cheeses are soft varieties intended to be eaten quite fresh, like cream cheese. Of the varieties of cheese made in Switzerland, the best known is the Emmenthaler, which is about the size of a See also:cart-See also:wheel, and has a weight varying from 150 to 300 lb. It is full of small holes of almost uniform size and very regularly distributed. In colour and flavour it, is the same as Gruyere. The See also:Edam and See also:Gouda are the common cheeses of See also: See also:Doane and H. W. See also:Lawson. Additional information and CommentsThere are no comments yet for this article.
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