The materials employed in making cheese are milk and rennet. Rennet is used either fresh or salted and dried; generally in the latter state. The milk may be of any kind, according to the quality of the cheese required. Cows’ milk is that generally employed; but occasionally ewes’ milk is used; and sometimes, though more rarely, that from goats.
In preparing his cheese, the dairy farmer puts the greater portion of the milk into a large tub, to which he adds the remainder, sufficiently heated to raise the temperature to that of new milk. The whole is then whisked together, the rennet or rennet liquor added, and the tub covered over. It is now allowed to stand until completely “turned,” when the curd is gently struck down several times with the skimming-dish, after which it is allowed to subside. The vat covered with cheese-cloth is next placed on a “horse” or “ladder” over the tub, and filled with curd by means of the skimmer, care being taken to allow as little as possible of the oily particles or butter to run back with the whey. The curd is pressed down with the hands, and more added as it sinks. This process is repeated until the curd rises to about two inches above the edge. The newly formed cheese, thus partially separated from the whey, is now placed in a clean tub, and a proper quantity of salt added, as well as of annotta, when that colouring is used, after which a board is placed over and under it, and pressure applied for about 2 or 3 hours. The cheese is next turned out and surrounded by a fresh cheese-cloth, and then again submitted to pressure in the cheese press for 8 or 10 hours, after which it is commonly removed from the press, salted all over, and again pressed for 15 to 20 hours. The quality of the cheese especially depends on this part of the process, as if any of the whey is left in the cheese it rapidly becomes bad-flavoured. Before placing it in the press the last time the common practice is to pare the edges smooth and sightly. It now only remains to wash the outside of the cheese in warm whey or water, to wipe it dry, and to colour it with annotta or reddle, as is usually done.
The storing of the newly-made cheese is the next point that engages the attention of the maker and wholesale dealer. The same principles which influence the maturation or ripening of fermented liquors also operate here. In England, a cool cellar, neither damp nor dry, and which is uninfluenced by change of weather or season, is commonly regarded as the best for the purpose. If possible, the temperature should on no account be permitted to exceed 50° or 52° Fahr. at any portion of the year. An average of about 45° is preferable when it can be procured. A place exposed to sudden changes of temperature is as unfit for
storing cheese as it is for storing beer. “The quality of Rochefort cheese, which is prepared from sheep’s milk, and is very excellent, depends exclusively upon the places where the cheeses are kept after pressing and during maturation. Those are cellars, communicating with mountain grottoes and caverns, which are kept constantly cool, at about 41° to 42° Fahr., by currents of air from clefts in the mountains. The value of these cellars as storehouses varies with their property of maintaining an equable and low temperature. Giron mentions that a certain cellar, the construction of which had cost only 480l. (12,000 francs), was sold for 8600l. (215,000 francs), being found to maintain a suitable temperature, a convincing proof of the importance attached to temperature in the preparation of these superior cheeses.” (Liebig.)
It will thus be seen that very slight differences in the materials, in the preparation, or in storing of the cheese, materially influence the quality and flavour of this article. The richness of the milk—the addition to or subtraction of cream from the milk—the separation of the curd from the whey with or without compression—the salting of the curd—the collection of the curd, either whole or broken, before pressing—the addition of colouring matter, as annotta or saffron, or of flavouring—the place and method of storing—and the length of time allowed for maturation, all tend to alter the taste and odour of the cheese in some or other particular, and that in a way readily perceptible to the palate of the connoisseur. No other alimentary substance appears to be so seriously affected by slight variations in the quality of the materials from which it is made, or by such apparently trifling differences in the methods of preparing it.
Var. The varieties of cheese met with in commerce are very numerous, and differ greatly from each other in richness, colour, and flavour. These are commonly distinguished by names indicative of the places in which they have been manufactured, or of the quality of the materials from which they have been prepared. Thus, we have Dutch, Gloucester, Stilton, skimmed-milk, raw-milk, cream, and other cheeses; names which explain themselves. The following are the principal varieties met with in Europe:—
Cheese, Brickbat. From its form; made in Wiltshire of new milk and cream.
Cheese, Cheddar. A fine, spongy kind of cheese, the eyes or vesicles of which contain a rich oil; made up into round, thick cheeses, of considerable size (150 to 200 lbs.).
Cheese, Cheshire. From new milk, without skimming, the morning’s milk being mixed with that of the preceding evening, previously warmed, so that the whole may be brought to the heat of new milk. To this the rennet is added, in less quantity than is commonly used for other kinds of cheese. On this point much of the flavour and mildness of the cheese is said to depend. A piece of dried rennet, of the size of half-a-crown, put into a pint of water over night, and allowed to stand until the next morning, is sufficient for 18 or 20 gallons of milk. In large, round, thick cheeses (100 to 200 lbs. each). They are generally solid, homogeneous, and dry, and friable rather than viscid.
Cheese, Cottenham. A rich kind of cheese, in flavour and consistence not unlike Stilton, from which, however, it differs in shape, being flatter and broader than the latter.