MILK GRADING

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume 75, Issue 118, 21 May 1932, Page 8 (Supplement)

MILK GRADING

A SUGGESTED METHOD. The introduction of milk grading, on a trial basis, iu New Zealand draws attention to the curd test as a method of judging the quality of milk for cheese-making. This method has been before factory managers and milk suppliers since Mr. W. M. Singleton, director of the Ilfiiry Division introduced it at .meetings of suppliers as far back as 1901. The chief drawback of the test has been the attention required during the day. Recognising that couq.»u.'»»ry milkgrading would necessitate the use of an efficient practical test, an endeavour has been made to avoid much of the attention hitherto required by the curd test. In the current issue of the Journal of Agriculture. Mr. Singleton suggests that the bottles containing the milk, and later the curd samples, should be placed in racks which can be housed in a container, the temperature of which can be controlled, as required. by the use of steam or electricity. This idea has been developed with rhe assistance of Messrs G. F. V. Morgan and M. Syron of the (Dairy Division. The milk samples may be warmed in this container for renneting. Imperial half-pint bottles with cardboard stoppers are used. The bottles are fixed in the rack so that they retain their place when their containing rack is revolved. A small electric motor or‘a small belt from the factory main shaft can be used for revolving the horizontal shaft in the container for the test-bottle racks. When the curd is ready for breaking* the power revolves the rack at the rate of about 23 to 30 revolutions per minute. This breaks up the curd in the bottles. The temperature inside the container is raised to about 100 degrees Fahrenheit, and the revolving is continued until the curds are “cooked.” The cardboard discs are then discarded and the tops of the bottles are covered with gauze which supported in its position but so that whey may escape when the bottles are inverted. The whey is drained by giving the rack half a revolution, which inverts the bottles. The curds are thus allowed to drain, the temperature of the container being maintained until the curds are ready for examination in six to seven hours from the time-of adding the rennet. The bottles may be washed in the container by using a revolving brush fixed to the container shaft. They can afterwards be sterilised in the same container and held there until required on the receiving stage for further samples.