The Book of Cheese

by Charles Thom; W. W. Fisk

The commonly used gang press may or may not have an arrangement to cause continuous pressure to be applied to the cheese (Figs. 47, 48). When fresh cheeses are first placed in the press, the pressure should be applied very gradually. The curd, after being cut through the mill, will have many exposed fat globules. A heavy pressure at first will force out the whey set free by the extracting power of the salt. The whey will carry away the exposed fat globules, and therefore reduce the yield. As soon as white whey starts from the hoops, the increased application of the pressure should be stopped until the whey regains the appearance of clear brine. More pressure can then be gradually applied until full pressure is reached. The cheeses should remain under heavy pressure for one-half to one hour, when they should be removed from the press and dressed.

207. Dressing the cheese.—When ready to dress the cheese, the press is opened and the hoops turned down. The hoops are opened so that the bandages can be lapped over the top of the cheeses about 1½ inches. Before turning a bandage down, it should be carefully pulled up to remove any wrinkles from the sides of the cheese, but not hard enough to pull it free from the bottom. After it is pulled up, the bandage should be lapped over the top about 1½ inches, and if not even should be trimmed with a sharp knife. It should then be sopped down with warm water. Plenty of warm water to wet the bandage and cloths helps to form a good rind. If starched circles are used, one should be placed on the top of the cheese and sopped down with warm water. If not, the press cloth should be wrung out of warm water and put on smoothly, so there will be no wrinkles. The hoop is then put together and placed back in the press under heavy pressure for twelve to eighteen hours. The pressure should be sufficient to cause the curd particles to unite so that the surface of the cheese will be smooth. The next day the cheeses are taken from the hoops and placed in the curing-room. If they do not come out of the hoop easily, they may be loosened by cutting between the sides of the cheese and the hoop with a knife. A special thin-bladed knife for this purpose is called a speed knife ([Fig. 49]). Care should be taken not to cut the bandage when trying to loosen the cheese. If starched circles are used, the press cloths are removed from the cheese, when they are put in the curing-room. If neither starched circles nor press cloth are left on the cheese in the curing-room, the rind

Fig. 49.—Speed knife. will crack on account of drying out on the exposed surface. This allows mold and insects to enter the cheese. The flavor, body and texture and color of the cheese are all dependent on the skill of the cheese-maker and the quality of the milk from which it is made. The finish is dependent entirely on the skill and carefulness of the maker. An operator should see that the cheese press is straight so that there will be no crocked cheese and that the bandage and press cloths are properly put on, because the finish or appearance of the cheese is an index of his ability.

208. Handling over-ripe and gassy milk.—Because it is sometimes necessary to make over-ripe[91] or gassy milk[92] into cheese, special directions or precautions are necessary. The best way is to reject this milk. When it is necessary to make it into cheese, the losses are much more than with normal milk. It is a question of making as good a cheese as possible, and the subject of losses is ignored.

(1) Over-ripe milk.—The fact that the milk is over-ripe shows that there is already too much acid present. Every effort must be made to get the curd as firm as possible in the whey with the acid development as low as possible or before the acid has had time to develop any more than can be helped. Although the milk is over-ripe, it is a good plan to add about ¼ of 1 per cent of starter just before the rennet. This starter will not begin to work until the curd is being cheddared and it will help the flavor, especially if any bad fermentation should be present.

The rennet is added at 80° F., as this lower temperature tends to check the acid development. More rennet is used, commonly from 4 to 4½ ounces to 1000 pounds of milk. This gives a quicker coagulation. The curd is cut soft, as this tends to expel the moisture more quickly. The heat is turned on sooner after cutting. The time to turn it on and the length of time to heat are determined by the amount of acid. A curd should not be heated in less than fifteen minutes. If the curd has enough acid and has not begun to firm up much, the whey should be drawn down to the surface of the curd, water the temperature of the whey and curd put into the vat, and the curd firmed up in this water. The water washes the acid out of the curd and because of the lack of milk-sugar checks the acid development.

If the milk is not so ripe and the curd nearly firm enough, the whey may be drawn off and the curd firmed up by hard stirring in the vat or sink. The curd should not be pushed back enough to be very deep or thick when ready to cheddar.

The curd should be cut into very small pieces to cheddar. The smaller the pieces, the faster the whey drains away. Sometimes it is necessary to cut the curd into pieces six inches square. The pieces should not be piled but should be turned often and stood on edge to let the whey drain away and sometimes pressed with the hands to force the whey out. It is often all one man can do to keep the curd turned.