CHEESE-MAKING.

Wellington Independent, Volume XXII, Issue 2631, 4 February 1868, Page 5

CHEESE-MAKING.

(From the Fraia>.)

The fine qualities of English cheese still command the best prices, and so long as this continues our dairymen should exert themselves to improve their manufacture. If we investigate the variety of practice in Cheshire, for, example, we are driven to conclude that the rule of thumb is too often the only rule studied, that scientific principles are unknown, and that great improvement is possible. In many instances dairy farms are small, and the occupiers ignorant men, incapable of doing the work properly. In such cases it is probable that the factory system, i so successful in the States, would prove a boon, and ought to be tried. This consists in the establishment of a cheese making j company, in the centre of a district. The j farmers sell their milk at a fixed rate, and , buy back the whey. As a proof of the success of such in the States, the first factory was erected in 1851 ; at the present time — sixteen years after — there are distributed through the States upwards of a thousand. The high price of labor is another pressing ! reason for centralisation, and the subject has been seriously considered in Cheshire, where the ordinary plans are radically defective, and the labor, consequent upon antiquated arrangements, excessive. One notable result would be greater uniformity. At present i half a dozen plans are adopted ; and, as a ! consequence, the quality is equally variable. We direct attention to some of the more common causes of failure. First and foremost, the want of perfect cleanliness. The hands that milk must be clean ; ihe vessels that receive the milk must be free from any impurity ; the atmosphere of the dairy sweet and pure, free from the miasma arising from drains, decaying matter, neighboring pigsties and the like ; the aspect of the dairies such as secures a cool temperature. All these are active causes of fermentation, and ifc cannot be too forcibly insisted on that nothing affects the quality of cheese so much aB the presence of ferments, which taint the milk. The use of wooden vessels, either for milking or in the dairy, is an error. The milk penetrates the wood, and cannot be removed by scalding ; consequently it ferments, and communicates its restless condition to the new milk. Tin pails and shallow block- tin or glass pans are desirable ; and if the latter are furnished with a jacket, so that the temperature of the milk may be reduced by placing cold water in the jacket, so much the better. Milk pails should be concave at the bottom, free from sharp angles in which the milk may lodge, and everything should be carefully and immpdiately cleansed with hot water after use. Whilst pure water is so indispensable in order to keep all sweet and wholesome, its use in the dairy should yet be limited. Many maids appear to glory in damp, and throw down large quantities of water, which soaks into the floor, and saturates the air. A damp atmosphere predisposes to fermentaiion. " Clean, cool, and dry," are mottoes for the dairy. The changes that occur in cheese-making aro simple, and the slight variation in practice, according to the method pursued, does not so materially affect the result as the attention to minute points : a little too much haste here, carelessness as to temperature there, and the cheese is seriouslj injured. Fresh milk isalkaline in its reaction. The casein or nitrogenous material of milk owes its solubility to a weak union with the alkali. If we introduce an acid, then the alknli, having a greater attraction for the acid thaH for the casein, leaves the latter, which immediately separates, and, if the process is properly managed, should in coagu lating inclose the greater part of the butter globules, leaving little but the watery particles and the mineral matters as whey. The quality of the cheese depends mainly upon the proportion of fatty matter it contains ; and much skill is required to so treat the curd that, whilst the whey is thoroughly separated, the fatty globules regain. The coagulation of the casein may be produced either by the direct introduction of an acid, or by the presence of a ferment that communicates its own restless condition to the particles of the sugar of milk, which speedily becomes transformed into lactic acid A point of great importance is the thorough separation of the whey from the cheese ; if any remains, the flavor and quality of the cheese is spoilt. This depends partly on the form of the cheese tub and the meims for drawing off the whey, partly on the skill exercised in breaking the curd, and partly also on the temperature of the milk during the process. In the celebrated Cheddar system, decidedly the best for general use, fche curd is scalded ; a portion of the whey, drawn off as soon as coagulation is complete, is heated and added to the curd, until the temperature of the whole is raised to 95 cleg, or 100 deg., the curd being gently stirred whilst the fluid is being poured. The curd is thus brought closer together, and falls to the bottom or the centre of the tub, allowing the whey to separate. A great point is not to unduly hurry operations; the cutting and breaking especially require time. Cheese is made daily on the Cheddarsystem the nightand morning's milk being mixed in the tub. The temperatureshouldbeßo deg, obtained byaddingaportion of warmrailk. The thermometer should be constantly referred to, as an equable [and certain temperature is of the highest importance, though frequently ignored by dairymaids. When the proper degree of heat is attained, the rennet is added, and sometimes a coloring matter (annatto) ; this, however, being alkaline, should be introduced with caution, or it may neutralize the effect of the lactic acid. Many of the best makers do not use it, being content with the natural color of the cheese. After the rennet is added the milk is left for an hour, to allow time for coagulation. The curd is then partially broken, and permitted to subside, in order that a small quantity of whey may be abstracted. While this is heated the curdis again carefully broken, and the heated whey added by one attendant, whilst another gently stirs, until the temperature reaches 90 deg. or 100 deg. Tho curd runs together, and frees itaelf from the whey, which is now nearly colorless. Sometime the whey is withdrawn a second time, and returned heated to a higher temperature* than before, the curd being carefully stirred. After being left for a short time it Bettles at the bottom, and the whey is removed, partly .from, the top by buckets, and partly by opening a tap at the bottom of the tub. The curd is then cut, heaped pyramid fashion in the centre of the tub, the bottom of which is concave, and allowed to remain a considerable time, being occasionally cut and moved in order to fucilitate the draining of the whey. The appearance of the whey indicates tho success of the process ; if all has been done correctly, and especially if the exact temperature has been maintained, we shall have a transparent yellow fluid ; on the contrary, if it is milky, and on standing yields a fine curd, the rich e«t portions of the cheese have been lost. Under the best conditions something passes through, and it generally pays to set the whey in large shallow vessels, and skim off the butter. In a rather celebrated

Gloucestershire dairy, Mr Harrison's, Frocester Court, 251 bof butter per cow was the annual average from the whey. After all the whey has been thus gradually removed, the cheese is ready for pressure, being first broken in a mill. The temperature must not exceed 60 deg., and very little weight allowed at first. The vatting process goes on for a week, the cheese being carefully bound round in cloth, which is frequently changed. A certain quantity of salt is introduced before the cheese is placed in the curd-mill.