Take cheese from the hoops after they have been under pressure about
eighteen hours. If they have been properly made and thoroughly
cooked, and the cap cloths are sweet and clean, the latter will peel
from the ends without making an abrasion of the rind. Allow them
to stand an hour or so on the shelves before greasing; the surface
moisture will then have evaporated, and the rinds will deepen to a
golden color and become crisp and slightly rough under the touch.
Heat whey butter as hot as you can bear your hand in it, and, using
a large piece of bandage cloth (no other cloth is as good), dip it
in the hot grease and apply by a thorough rubbing-in to the cheese
surface. The butter being hot will strike in and lend toughness and
elasticity to the rind. Date the cheese after they have been on the
shelves a day. The bandage cloth will then have become dry, and the
dates can be made to show clear and distinct. Turn cheese over every
day and rub them thoroughly with a sponge of bandage cloth, well
oiled. Dealers, retailers and consumers insist on a good, perfect
rind, and, as makers, we must give it to them. Appearance sometimes
goes farther than quality, but we want both, and want them united.
Sometimes cheese will mould on the sides during damp, muggy weather
in summer. It will not do to drive out the dampness with fire, so
establish a free circulation of air through the room and the mould
will cease to accumulate. In a curing room it is easier to keep
temperature where you want it during cool than in hot weather. If the
mercury gets to running up above 75° Fahrenheit, sprinkle the floor
vigorously with cold water, take out the window sashes, and on the
south side keep the blinds closed, or a shade down. Good cheese can
endure a temperature of 80° for a while without deteriorating, but
such a heat is not desirable; keep it below that if possible during
a hot wave. The shelves on which the cheese rest should be of sound
lumber, smoothly planed basswood or pine, and each board a little
wider than the diameter of the cheese. Care should be taken to have
the bandages the exact circumference of the inside of the hoop. If
the band is contracted, the cloth will split open under pressure and
expose the cheese to the attack of skipper flies; if too large, the
cheese will expand on the shelf and make it difficult to be jammed
into a box for shipment. The reason the curing room should not be
over the make apartment, or in a loft, is that in the former the
vapor and odors generated below are not desirable curing factors, and
in both cases excessive heat is unavoidable, due to the elevation and
the direct rays of the sun on the roof. When cheese get so warmed
up that the butter starts, the flavor is deteriorating also. While
curing, cheese need ventilation, draughts of air should be avoided,
as thereby the surfaces are dried up and checked. Too much light is
not desirable in a curing room; shades should be used at the windows
to regulate this. It is now customary to ship cheese as soon as they
cease to be curdy, which occurs in from ten to fifteen days from the
hoop.