In a large majority of the curing-rooms of the country, the temperature
ranges from 60 degrees Fahrenheit to 90 degrees and even above.
Sometimes these extremes are realized within a few days. Think of
setting a curd to fermenting at 80 to 90 degrees, when it ought to
start at 60 to 65 degrees! Yet, this is frequently done; and to prevent
the cheese from huffing and crawling it is proposed by some to make
the curd so dry and sour in the beginning that heat will not soften
it. In this way, is made what some buyers style a "firm" cheese. The
best English Cheddars, according to the American Encyclopedia, are set
to curing at a temperature of 60 degrees, and are never allowed to go
above 70 degrees. Our observation and experience are that the range of
temperature should never go above 75 degrees. Curing should begin as
low as 65 degrees, and no cheese should be marketed under thirty days
from the hoops. When the curing is slow, as it ought to be, the cheese
will not be ripe in less than that time. If sixty days old before
ready for market, the better. The hurrying process is everywhere bad
for the product, and no amount of souring helps the matter, however
hard it may make the cheese and however well it may stand up in hot
weather. We want something else besides standing-up quality. With a
low and even temperature for curing, we do not need to work all the
goodness out of the curd to make a firm cheese. We do not have to cut
the fats and phosphates out with acid, nor to dry all the moisture out
by fine cutting and high scalding or long scalding. We can stop the
cooking when the curd is evenly cooked through so as to be springy when
pressed together by the hands, take it out of the whey before the acid
develops, and put it to press without unnecessary delay.