The Book of Cheese

by Charles Thom; W. W. Fisk

222. English dairy cheese.—In some localities cheeses are still made on the farms. These are mostly produced after the stirred-curd process, hence are soft-bodied and open-textured. They usually weigh ten to twelve pounds and are three to four inches thick and twelve inches in diameter.

223. Pineapple cheese.—This variety derives its name from the fact that the cheeses are made in about the size and shape of a pineapple. The curd is made after the Cheddar process from either whole milk or partly skimmed milk. It is pressed in molds shaped like a pineapple. The cheeses are then hung in nets to give the checked appearance on the surface. They are rubbed with linseed oil to prevent the surface cracking, and finally are shellacked.

224. Leyden.—Among specialties, a cheese called Leyden originating in Holland is made in Michigan and New York. This is a part skim cheese heavily spiced with caraway seed. The ripe cheese is colored red as it goes to market.

225. Cheddar cheese with pimientos.—Recently some Cheddar cheeses have been made with pimientos added. This gives a mixture of characteristic Cheddar and pimiento flavors, which seems to be desired by some persons. An ordinary Cheddar curd is made and the pimientos added just before salting. The pimientos are ground rather coarsely and then added to the curd together with the liquid which was with the pimientos in the can. The pimiento should be thoroughly and evenly mixed with the curd to insure a uniform distribution and mottled color in the cheese. The salt is then applied. The remainder of the process is the same as for ordinary Cheddar cheese.

226. Sage cheese is a product flavored from the leaves of the ordinary garden sage. It is made by two methods: one, in which the sage leaves are used, and the other, in which a part of the curd is colored to imitate that given by the sage leaves, and sage oil or tea is used to give the flavor.

In the leaf method, a regular Cheddar cheese curd is made up to the time of salting. Just before the salt is added, sage leaves are mixed with the curd. The leaves should be dried and freed from stems and other coarse particles and the leaves themselves broken up rather finely. The leaves are then added at the rate of 3 ounces for every 1000 pounds of milk. Care must be exercised to see that the leaves are evenly mixed through the curd or an evenly mottled cheese will not result. The salt is then added. This sequence seems to increase the absorption of the flavor by the curd.

If these cheeses are consumed as soon as well cured, no fault can be found. On the other hand, if they are held for any length of time, yellow areas form about each piece of sage leaf; the leaves decay rapidly and spoil the cheese. This method gives a very true flavored sage cheese, the only objection being that it cannot be held in storage for any length of time without a marked deterioration.

In the other method of making sage cheese, either a vat with a movable partition or a large and a small vat must be used. In many cases the receiving can is used as the small vat. After the milk is properly ripened and ready to set, one-sixth to one-seventh of the milk is put into the small vat. To this small vat, green coloring matter is added. Juice from the leaves of corn, clover, or spinach was formerly used as coloring. Consequently the manufacture of sage cheese by this method was limited to the seasons of the year when these leaves could be obtained. Now, however, the dairy supply houses have a harmless green color paste which is much cheaper and can be secured at any season of the year. The amount of color paste to use will vary from 30 to 35 c.c. for every 1000 pounds of total milk. This should be added to the small vat of milk. It gives a green milk and later a green curd.

Both vats are worked along together, until the time for removing the whey. Then the partition in the vat is removed or the small vat is mixed with the large one. The green curd should then be evenly mixed with the white one or an even green mottled cheese will not result. The curds should not be mixed until they are well firmed or the white curd will take on a greenish cast and spoil the appearance of the cheese.

After the whey is removed, the curd is allowed to mat as in ordinary Cheddar but care must be exercised to pile the curd so that it cannot spread or "draw" out. If it does draw out, the small green spots will be stretched out and large blotches or patches of green will be the result. The cheese-maker must watch the curd closely or he may not secure the much desired small green mottles. When the curd is well matted, it is milled as in Cheddar. Just before the salt is added, the sage extract is applied to the curd.