MILK FOR CHEESE-MAKING.

Cromwell Argus, Volume L, Issue 2648, 17 November 1919, Page 2

MILK FOR CHEESE-MAKING.

I There is a common idea that al- ; most any kind of milk is quite good | enough for making into cheese, and i the result is that tons upon tons of ! cheese are made which are nearly destitute of the prime requisite for a good, digestible cheese a fair perj centage of butter-fat. It does not need milk extra, rich in fat to make a desirable cheese, but it does require at least 3A to 4 per cent, of fat if fine quality is the point to be aimed at, and we may say at once that it is useless making cheese unless it is of fine quality. A fine cheese should be composed of about equal parts of fat, cheesy matter and water. Some suppose that the sugar of milk goes into the cheese as part of its composition, but such is not the case ; the greater portion of the five per cent: of sugar contained in milk goes off in the whey, and the total solids of milk are not "found in cheese, only the fat and casein.

On the other hand, only a fair proportion of fats are of any commercial value in a cheese. With the exception of Stilton cheese, about 4 per cent, of fat is all the market recognises in a cheese and pays for, i.e., a cheese well made with milk, containing 4 per cent, of fat sells as well and gives as full satisfaction as a cheese made from 5 per cent, milk ; and what is against the excessive use of fats is that in some way the cheese does not weigh correspondingly more by the increase of fat above 1 per cent. The lesson of all this is that there must be a testing of milk to determine its uses. The dairy that gives 3a per cent, to 4 per cent, fat milk can have this milk more profitably made into fine cheese. The dairy that gives 5 per cent, fat milk would suffer great loss, as this extra pound of fat in each 100 lb. of milk would not be adding anything to the cheese.