Wash the rennet, and cut it into small pieces. Put this in a wide-mouthed bottle, with one quart of sherry. This will be ready for use in four or five days. Rennet wine is used with fresh milk to make delicate desserts, such as slip, rennet custard, etc.
When the quart of wine has been used, a second quart may be poured on the rennet in the bottle.
If salted rennet be used, soak it for several hours in cold water to remove the salt.
Essence of Rennet.
Clean a rennet and cut it into small bits. Put these in a glass jar with three ounces of salt. Work the salt into the rennet with a spoon. Now cover the jar, and put in a cool place for six weeks. At the end of this time add a gill of rum and a pint of water. Let this stand for two days; then filter through paper, and bottle for use. This essence may be employed the same as rennet wine, using with it any flavor one wishes.
THE DAIRY.
The suggestions given for the work in the dairy are for the guidance of the woman who has only the simplest appliances to work with, and only a small amount of milk or cream to handle. In the large dairies, with such modern apparatus as the separator, and other fine machinery, the process of making butter differs from that outlined in this chapter. The essentials are always the same, whether it be in the smallest and most primitive dairy, or in the largest and most modern. There must be perfect cleanliness and freedom from odors. Wood floors and racks on shelves and in refrigerators must be watched carefully; for wood absorbs the moisture from milk and water, and will taint milk, butter, and cheese very quickly. The greatest care is therefore needed, that all the woodwork shall be washed clean, and dried thoroughly. Guard against letting any of the wood about the dairy become milk- or water-soaked.
Care of Milk and Cream.
Milk and all the products of milk require the most careful attention. Thorough cleanliness and good ventilation are absolutely necessary. Milk, butter, and cream quickly absorb any odors that there may be near by. If possible, one room or pantry should be kept exclusively for the dairy products. If this be impossible keep one side of the room—that nearest the window—for this purpose. Never put strong-odored or warm food in this room. Keep the room scrupulously clean and dry. Every utensil that is used about milk in any form must be first washed in cold water, then in hot suds, and finally scalded in clear, boiling water. Wipe perfectly dry with towels that are kept for this purpose, and that are washed and scalded every day. Now put the utensils out in the sun. If the day be wet, put them by an open window to air. The milk, cream, butter, etc., that come from such a dairy cannot fail to be of a superior quality.
When the milk is brought in, pour it through a fine strainer into the pans, and then set the pans in place. If at any time it be necessary to mix the night and morning milk, cool the fresh milk before it is added to the older milk. Adding warm milk to cold milk will cause the whole mass to spoil quickly.