The site for a cheese factory should be a well-drained, slightly
elevated location, convenient to a copious and perpetual flow of
water. The size of the building is, of course, to be measured by the
amount of milk to be manufactured therein, but the same internal
arrangement is needed alike in both small and large factories. The
building should rest on a substantial stone foundation, with a free
circulation of air underneath, and a complete system of troughs be
appendent to carry all slops and whey beyond contaminating distance.
It is unnecessary that the building be more than a story and a half
high, unless the upper apartment is required for something besides
curing cheese. The make-room should be ceiled, and the curing-room
plastered. The make-room should be in the front of the building,
with the engine-room on one side of it and the milk delivery window
on the other. The curing-room should be in the back. Cut off all
superfluous space about the building and have just enough room to be
nicely convenient. Put an awning roof over the delivery window, wide
and long enough to cover wagon and team. Set the vats broadside to
the milk scales, with ends towards the outer door. The platform for
the weighing-can and scales should be on a level with the top of the
vats. A small office desk should be hung to the wall near the weigh
can, and close at hand, so that every patron can see them, should
be arranged the cream tubes, and lactometer. Tin utensils can be
hung on pegs in the wall, and a stout, low shelf in one corner will
support rennet and annottoine jars. Have the aisle between the vats
wide enough to permit of easy passage, and at the farther ends of
the vats sink a trough into the floor to carry off the whey. Have
similar troughs under the presses. The floor should be full enough
in the center to gravitate all slop toward the drains. It is useless
to have a factory floor wet all of the time; keep it dry by a system
of neatness. The curing-room should have an outside door, from
which cheese can be loaded. An adjoining lean-to shed, for storing
empty cheese boxes and housing fuel, is also a needed addition to
the building. For a one day milk delivery factory, no ice-house is
required. Build substantially and paint neatly, aiming to have a
model-looking factory.
Beginning of the Cheese Factory System in America.
About the year 1853, a gentleman residing near Rome, Oneida county,
N. Y., Jesse Williams by name, conceived the idea of manufacturing
his neighbors’ milk in common with his own. This is the first known
instance of manufacture in this country by associated dairies,
although the method was previously in vogue in Switzerland. I quote
from an old report: “It required a long time to create the demand
which now exists in England for American cheese, and to Herkimer
county, New York, belongs the credit of creating it and securing the
trade. It was mainly effected by bringing a high degree of skill to
bear upon the manufacture generally, thus producing not only a good
article, but uniformly good, or as near uniform as is possible when
made in different families. Cheese had been sent abroad in small
amounts for many years, but when once by good quality and uniformity
it had secured a firm foothold, the amount exported increased with
astonishing rapidity. By gradual growth it had come to nine million
pounds in 1859, in 1860 it amounted to twenty-three millions, in
1861 to forty millions, and the demand and supply have steadily
increased ever since. It is a noteworthy fact that systematic
attempts to improve the manufacture of cheese began to be made both
in Somersetshire, England, and in Herkimer county, New York, about
the same time; and also, that with no knowledge on the part of either
of the progress made by the other, after lengthened experiments, both
should have adopted substantially the same method; for it is a fact
that the Cheddar and Herkimer methods so closely resemble each other
that the only differences of any consequence are such as necessarily
grow out of the difference of climate. Their process differs from
most methods mainly in two particulars; first, in employing milk
which has attained a proximate degree of acidity, although never
enough to be sensible to the taste, instead of such as is quite
new; and, second, in the separation of the whey from the curd by
causing its contraction and precipitation, instead of depending
mainly on mechanical means. The improvements thus introduced within
a comparatively recent period have resulted in several important
advantages: First, a material reduction of labor; second, the
production of a larger amount and a better quality of cheese from a
given quantity of milk; and, lastly, the cheese made by this method
requires less time for the ripening process, and thus is sooner ready
for the market.
Utensils Necessary to Stock a Factory.
A boiler of moderate capacity, with fittings complete; milk vats with
steam pipes and connections; patent galvanized iron cheese hoops; a
gang press; weigh can with large gate; milk conductor to convey the
lacteal fluid from the weigh can to the cloth strainer over the vat;
common sized scales that will weigh at least 600 pounds; small sized
scales for weighing cheese; two curd knives, one with horizontal
and the other with perpendicular blades; large wheel with crank and
endless rope for hoisting milk; two stone rennet jars of a capacity
of ten gallons each; two thermometers, one for the make and the other
for the curing-room; jar for keeping annottoine; syphon and tin
strainer for drawing whey from the vat; a self-salting curd mill—a
curd mill is now indispensable to a factory, and a self-salting one
is indispensable where only one man is employed; rubber mop, curd
broom and floor broom; milk book for keeping accurate account of all
business transacted in the establishment, including daily receipts
of milk from patrons; a set of glass tubes in a case, for testing
milk as to the amount of cream it contains and comparing its state
of maturity; two water pails and one curd pail; a heavy curd scoop;
two dippers, one of three and the other of six quarts capacity; glass
graduated jar and lactometer for testing milk to locate water—be sure
and purchase a lactometer gauged for trying milk at 80° Fahrenheit,
many being gauged for 60° Fahrenheit, and of little use in hot
weather unless you have ice handy to chill the milk designed for the
test; stencils, case and brush for dating cheese and branding boxes;
tin funnel for conveying whey from the vat to the outside tank; curd
rake for agitating the product when cooking; a cheese tryer; a curd
sink is not now strictly essential, although some makers still prefer
to use one.
In glancing over the above list we will mention some of the articles
that can be supplemented by utensils of a more primitive and cheaper
make. Such a retrograde change is not, however, desirable, although
sometimes in a small factory where the receipts to the manufacturer
are limited, strict economy has to be practiced in order to leave
a margin of profit. With economists of necessity the boiler can
be discarded and an old-fashioned under-heater vat, with a hot
water tank attached, made to do service. I know of dozens of small
factories throughout Central New York who get along admirably with
such apparatus. In the matter of press and hoops you can do better
without the gang press than you can without the patent hoops.
Remember that it is no economy to go back to the primitive hoop that
makes necessary the hand bandaging of every cheese. If obliged to go
without the gang press, get hoops that can be bandaged before the
curd is put in them, so that two cheese can be pressed under one
screw in an old-fashioned press. In such a case wooden followers
would be required. One pair of scales can be got along with at a
pinch, although two pairs would save a great deal of transferring
and extra work. Do not get along with one curd knife—you need both
the horizontal and the perpendicular, in order to cut the raw curd
evenly and economically. A crane can take the place of a large wheel
for hoisting milk if you consider it more convenient. Keep rennet
in nothing but stone jars or vessels and keep at least ten gallons
always prepared ahead. Jugs are often used for annottoine, although
an open jar admits of easy dipping and accurate measurement. Have
your tinner make you a long, narrow gill cup, to which should be
soldered an upright six-inch handle with a shepherd’s crook in the
end. Use the cup for measuring out the coloring; the long handle,
which can be hung by the crook on the inside of the jar, precludes
soiling the hands, clothing and floor with the scarlet dye. A curd
mill of some sort is positively necessary in order to facilitate
good, even stock; do not leave one out of the list of apparati under
any consideration. I prefer a self-salting mill, not only on account
of the ease with which curd can be ground but also for its superior
mechanism in thoroughly mixing the salt into the curd as fast as it
is torn by the teeth. In grinding curd with a common machine, the
torn shreds quickly re-amalgamate into an almost solid mass that
often requires harsh manipulation to separate. Then, again, the salt
being sprinkled by hand over the outer surface of the freshly-torn
curd sears and burns it before it can be worked into the mass. With a
self-salter, the saline condiment is equally distributed through all
parts at the proper limit of acid formation, thus preventing the curd
from packing solidly and making the quality even and fine.