One of the most essential points in determining the quality of a
cheese is the amount of moisture it contains. A proper retention of
moisture by the product in a cured state depends primarily on the
rennet that separated it from the watery serum of milk, and secondly
on the amount of heat applied in cooking, and the quantity of salt
afterwards added. To adjust all these little niceties to a minimum
of fine, even quality of which moisture is an adjunct, requires
experience and long familiarity with the handling and treatment of
milk. Butter, moisture and caseine should exist in about equal parts
to make a mellow cheese, and, to fix the proportion rightly, enough
rennet should be incorporated into the milk to expel all excess of
moisture, and yet leave enough to withstand the effect of a heat
judiciously gauged to cook it. Thus, rennet influences moisture on
the start, and other forces afterward are introduced that either aid
or retard it. When rennet diffuses itself through milk its power and
potency are largely measured by the temperature of the fluid body
surrounding it. As cheese making is merely an imitation of nature’s
workings in curdling milk in a calf’s stomach, the nearer we can
follow that process on the start, the closer to perfection we get.
Long experience has demonstrated that a temperature between 80° and
85° Fahrenheit is the best degree of warmth for milk to have attained
when it receives the peptic fluid. A temperature above that expels
the butter globules into the whey, and below, the active principle
of rennet is not brought out and tardily and incompletely coagulates
the mild solids. By afterward applying the lowest degree of heat that
will cook it within a reasonable time to a consistency of contraction
and expansion, the moisture still remains in proper proportion. A few
degrees of excess heat will produce a dry, hard curd, and a future
dry, hard cheese. Judgment, discretion, and experience are necessary
in applying salt to retain moisture. Salt itself is, of course, a
moisture retainer, but a too heavy application hardens and stiffens
the cheese structure and retards the curing of the product. Never
salt more than enough to give and retain flavor and preserve quality.
If the points we have given above have all been observed, then the
proper proportion of moisture in cheese will be assured.
Prominent English cheese judges have passed verdicts on fine
cheese in the following words: “We want cheese rich, solid, fine
flavored, true colored, that is, of an even color throughout, sound,
handsome, that will go on to improve for twelve months or longer if
desired.” “A good cheese is close and firm in texture, yet mellow;
in character or quality it is rich with a tendency to melt in the
mouth; the flavor full and fine, apparently that of a hazel-nut.”
“The characteristics of a good cheese are mellow and rich in taste
and flavor, and firm and full in texture, solid but not tough.”
“A good cheese is rich without being greasy, with a sweet, nutty
flavor, clear and equal color throughout, and of a compact, solid
texture, without being waxy; firm, and yet melts easily in the mouth,
leaving no rough or ill-flavor on the palate.” The English conception
of peerless cheese is ours, too, and we must continue to grind away
on the road of improvement until we bring the united product to the
standard of unimpeachable quality and uniformity.