THE DAIRY.

New Zealand Mail, Issue 1318, 3 June 1897, Page 5

THE DAIRY.

THREE METHODS OF MAKING SOFT CHEESE.

[By Heathfield.] Agricultural Gazette. Were it known how little plant they require, and how easy they are to manufacture, surely soft cheeßes of many sorts would become an every-day article of food, As it is, they are seldom seen in England, except on the tables of the well-to do ; in France it ia different, and in Paris, three half-pence worth of Brie cheese, will, with a roll, make a lunch which has now become immortalised amongst art students, for did not Trilby thus regale herself 7 Here in England the supply does not equal the demand, and consequently a prohibitive price is sometimes placed on these dainties. The several kinds of soft cheese ' are merely names to many people, and there is a general belief that all are manufactured from pure cream alone, and therefore cannot be made without a large supply of of milk. This is, of course, quite an erroneous impression, as will be shown by what follows. There is no meal at which a fresh soft cheese will not prove a welcome addition, and if the methods are followed exactly no one need feed afraid of failure.- Technical terms will be avoided in the description of how to proceed, the object being to teach those who know nothing of dairying how to provide themselves with an economical and nutritious article of diet. CAMBRIDGE.

The sorts most easily made, and requiring new milk, without any added cream, will be given first, but the more complicated, and those which require extra cream for their manufacture, will not be omitted, as many of the readers of this paper may have dairies of their own, and every convenience for trying the more elaborate sorts. Perhaps Cambridge is the easiest of all, so, to begin with, procure a mould with its its accompanying stand and straw mat. The mould are like little wooden boxes without top or bottom, and with holes all down the sides about an inch apart each way to allow the whey to escape ; they are placed on a narrow frame, into which a straw mat is fitted ; mould, stand, and mat should be carefully scalded, and then left to soak in cold water until required. Now pour into a pan or basin 81b of new milk (the milk must be accurately weighed, not measured), and warm it up to 95deg K, by placing the pan containing it in another vessel partly full of hot water. Now measure into a wineglass fiveeighths of a cubic centimetre of Hansen's rennet; add to this ten times its own bulk of water at 95deg F-, add this to the milk, and stir with a Scotch hand to thoroughly mix. Three minutes is usually long enough to stir, but it it is seen (and this must be carefully watched) that coagulation is taking place before the three minu(«3 has elapsed, stop stirring instantly, and cover the pan with a thick cheese_ cloth. Leave perfectly undisturbed fo an hour, then try the curd to see if it is sufficiently firm to ladle outj which

it is if, when a thermometer is placed in it perpendicularly and then.lifted up in as horizontal a position as possible, the curd breaks cleanly over it without leaving any ragged edges. To know when a curd is just fit to ladle is only to be learn by experience, but from sixty to eighty minutes is the time usually required for a fir-m coagulation. During this process it will be seen that some cream will have risen to the top of the milk, and it is a good plan to take it off in thin slices as evenly as possible to finish off the cheese with, leaving on skimming dishes till needed. Now take a large spoon, or the ladle which is sold for the purpose, and dip out the remainder of the curd into the mould, taking thin slices, and breaking as little as possible. When all is in, slide the creamy pieces of curd on to the top, cut a piece of grease-proof paper the right size to just fit into the top of the mould, which will prevent dust from settling and the yellowing of the top of the eheese caused by oxidation. Keep it in an equable temperature ; 75deg to 80deg F. will not be too Lot for the first day, and this may be reduced to 70deg IT. the second and third days. Care must be taken that the straws of the mat are evenly strung and fit firmly into the stand,or there will be a loss of curd ; and precautions are necessary to prevent the curd, while in process, stickihg to the sides or cornsrs of the mould. If careful scalding and soaking is practised, there will be little trouble of this sort; but the cheese should be looked to at intervals hours, and if it seen that the curd is sticking anywhere it must be gently loosened with an ivory paperknife. Cambridge is generally ready to eat in three to four days after being made. It is very delicate in flavour, anc often appreciated by those who do not generally eat .cheese of any sort. COULOMMIERS. To make three small cheeses take 151 b of new milk at 84deg. F. ; add to this \ cubic centimetre of rennet diluted with 10 times its own bulk of water, stir for five minutes, and again at intervals of balf-an-hour, to prevent the cream rising, till you see coagulation has taken place, which will be probably in from two to three hours. At the end of six hours, if the curd is firm, ladle into the moulds, which are round tin ones in two parts, which fit on to each other, and are placed on boards covered with straw mats. In from six to nine hours after ladling the curd will be found to have drained into the lower section of the mould. The top half of tin must be taken off with as little disturbance as possible, a freshly-scalded straw mat placed on the mould containing the curd; a board follows. Both boards are then firmly grasped, and the cheese turned over/ Next morning the same process is gone through, and the top side of the cheese has a little salt carefully rubbed into it, and twelve hours after it is again turned, and the bottom and sides are salted* Coulommiers are generally ripe in from four days to a week. To prevent them getting hard, as soon as the draining is over remove to a dairy with a temperature not above 65deg. F., though they may be made in a room which registers 75deg. F. or 80deg F., and draining will be more quickly over and complete at the higher temperature. GERVAIS. To make one dozen cheeses the size usually sold in shops, thoroughly mix together by stirring steadily for at least 15 minutes 1 quart of fresh sweet cream and two quarts of new milk; heat to 65deg. F., and add eight drops of Hansen’s rennet, diluted with 10 times its own bulk of water. Cover the pan with a cloth, and leave till next morning, when ladle into a course

cloth, and hang up to drain out of the way of draughts. When the whey has ceased to drip, the curd may be turned into a basm, and to this quantity add two tablespoonfuls of fine dry dairy salt mixing very thoroughly with the back of a spoon) fill into the moulds as firmly as possible, and leave to ripen from three days to a week, according to whether a pronounced or delicate fresh flavour is preferred. The moulls, boards, and ladle required for making these dainty little cheeses may usually be ordered through the local ironmonger.