perhaps every country, in a larger or lesser degree, must use his own
judgment, and not depend on the good opinion others may form of their
goods. He will find in a very large survey, amongst Dairys, in the
best country he travels, a very small proportion of excellent Dairys,
or such as will supply those particular customers, and when he meets
with them, is perhaps, obliged to deal them out very sparingly to the
different good customers, that may wish to have some particular nice,
and good Cheese for such of their Friends, who are likewise determined
to have the very best they can meet with. Very good second-rate
Cheese, is much more scarce than inferior, and the best, will still
find customers. Every dealer would be happy to find a large supply of
fine Cheese, every maker of Cheese would be glad to have his Dairy
meet with that preference. Some Dairy-folks will complain that there
is not proper encouragement given for making good Cheese; as Factors
give for all Dairys in a neighbourhood, nearly the same Price, though
some of these Dairys are not so good as others, by some shillings _per_
hundred: But then let these people remember, that ’tis themselves
only that sit in judgment in this case. Bring the makers of two
Dairys together, and you will hear each of them give the preference
to their own. The Factor must clear himself of this charge! For ’tis
of dangerous consequence, for a Factor to complain of any fault in
the Cheese to the maker, or not give it sufficient praise.--Perhaps
he will say to the Person, whose Dairy may appear the neatest, and
have had most care taken of it, and in the Eye of most people, had the
preference, your Cheese is extremely neat and good, is fat and mild,
and will please many of our best customers exceedingly, will even
stand in competition with _Gloucester_ and _Wiltshire_ Cheese, which
is always neat, well-handled, and mostly esteemed by genteel People,
your neighbour’s Cheese is not so mild or beautiful, but has many
good qualities, ’tis full flavoured, stout Cheese, such as is most in
demand, is bought by people who do not so much mind the beauty of it,
as being profitable Cheese to buy, that will spend well, or according
to the common Phrase, will eat Bread well, and though there may be a
few strong Cheeses amongst them, there are many customers wish to have
them so. If you go into a Fair, you will find some people looking for
handsome mild Cheese, but more buyers of stout, good spending Cheese,
of which they must be better judges, what suits their sale, than the
makers.--Certainly there are in most Countries, some few Dairys that
have all the good qualities; beautiful, fat, fine flavoured, _&c._
and these generally find their way to the best market. There is one
best way of doing every thing, and ’tis what in every way of life
is a cause of strife; a maxim I was taught in my youth, was, never
strive to be second best, some one must prevail, and they that do must
strive for it, the best way of doing a thing is as easy, when known, as
the second best. This emulation is what every dealer in Cheese would
wish to discover in the breast, and proceedings, of the Different
Dairy-folks in his walk, that he might be enabled to go to Market,
as one, who could lead and command both the opinion and interest of
the best customers: Such goods as would give that preference to him,
would of course give the command in price to those who supplied him;
for though the Cheese they now make, may at present support their own
good opinion, yet, when they come to find, that they have improved
in so great a degree, as to enable them to see excellence, where
they only saw usefulness, and blooming beauty, where only mediocrity
appeared; Ambition and Interest, their bosom friends, will point out
a new road to them, in which they will travel, not only as swift and
prosperous, as their rival neighbours, but will not leave them in an
easy and composed state, till they have out gone them. In this happy
track I confess I should be glad to meet many of my old friends and
neighbours, in whose service I have laboured many a long day; and
so far as my abilities will support me, should be glad to be their
conductor; but whether in my present pursuit, I may be so happy as to
shew them the right road, is very uncertain. If by opening their Ideas
afresh, shewing them where Improvements may be looked for, and giving
them some convincing circumstances, where such truths appear, they may
be led to look farther to find better, I shall hope they are in a fair
way to prevail. Some few circumstances they perhaps may expect, to
convince, and some fresh out-lines to extend the Ideas I have set on
float. I will give you in a few instances, the way I came first to be
moved in this pursuit.
The first that alarmed my Ideas, concerning the cause of sweet,
unsettled and ill-flavoured Cheese was, I was once going by a house,
I knew was notorious for as bad a Dairy as I ever met with, the
Dairy-woman saw me, and said, won’t you call and look at my Cheese, I
am sure ’tis as good as my neighbour T--s, which you have been buying,
I replied I fear not; come in then and see, she said; as soon as I came
into the Dairy-chamber, I saw, and told her it would not suit me; why
not, she replied, I am sure ’tis every drop New-Milk, and nobody can
take more pains with it, nor work harder at it than I do. On looking
to the farther side of the room, I perceived a Cheese that was very
blooming in appearance, handsome in shape, well-coated, firm, fat, and
much larger than the rest. I said, pray how came that Cheese there--I
should be glad to know the History of it; why truly said she ’tis a
strange one. I replied if you will make such Cheese as that, it would
be worth five shillings, or even ten shillings a hundred weight, more
than the rest; says she, one night when I had rendled my Milk, a person
came running to me, and said, neighbour T-- is groaning and you must
come immediately; I said to a raw wench I had to help me, now be sure
you don’t touch this Cheese till I come back, I will be sure to come
to you when I see how neighbour T-- is; but it happened she was worse
than I expected, and I could not leave her till after midnight. I
said, my Cheese will be spoiled, but the poor Woman shall not be lost
for a Cheese; when I came home I found it not so bad as I expected, put
it into the Vat in a hurry, saying, it may possibly make a Cheese that
will do for ourselves, but I little thought it would ever be a saleable
Cheese;--well now--said I, and is not this Cheese a proper lesson to
you? don’t you thereby plainly see that you have made the rest too
quick--why yes--said she, it might, if I had thought at all--but I
declare, I never once thought about it--Profound stupidity! thought I
to myself, and left her--however, this plainly convinced me that Cheese
in general was made too much in a hurry, and often when I came to a
Dairy where the same complaint prevailed, I told them this story, and
it frequently had the good effect, to produce good Cheese in the lieu
of bad, by giving more time to the Milk in earning.
To corroborate with this story also, my own opinion, that good Cheese
may be made by a skilful Dairy-woman in any place, or on any land;
there now lives in the same farm, where this old woman did, a person
who makes, without exception, as good a Dairy of Cheese, in every
point, as I ever met with in any country; I have had this Dairy, at
a Fair at a distance for many years, and two or three people were
generally at strife to have it, and it commonly happen’d that it was
made a point of by Buyers, that if I would let them have that Dairy,
they would buy their whole quantity of me, so that it generally was the
cause of my selling three or four other Dairys along with it. Next,
to shew that there are many Dairy-women do not make so much Cheese
from the same Milk, or near it, as they might, or ought to do; on the
evening of a very hot day, I went through a Farm-yard, and was much
pleased to see as fine a Dairy of twenty Cows as I had seen for a long
time, on going into the Dairy-chamber, to my great surprize, I found a
poor parcel of very lean, hungry looked, ill shaped, bad tasted, hove,
and Whey-spring Cheese,--I said to the Dairy-woman, certainly this is
not all the Cheese you have made from the fine Dairy of Cattle I saw
in your yard! It really is, said she, except the few that are not come
out of the Dairy. I have been so ill for the last two or three months,
I could not possibly be amongst it, and I find my maids know very
little of the matter. It is a poor parcel, and I am ashamed to see it;
I replied your servant takes a wrong method in making Cheese; I will
engage to tell you how you shall make two Cheeses where you now make
one, or one Cheese as large again; that difference, struck her much;
if you will she said, I will try it, and this very evening--Then, said
I,--as the weather is hot, take three or four quarts of fresh spring
Water, or in such quantity till you find your Milk is what you may
properly call Milk-warm, then, put two or three handfuls of Salt into
it,--after that put your Runnet into it, and let it stand an hour and
half before you stir it, if ’tis two hours it will be better, and you
will be sure to have more Cheese, in that time, the Curd will incline
to sink easily to the bottom of your Tub, then collect and gather your
Curd,--let it stand one quarter of a hour to settle, then Vat it, and
put it into your Press; let it stand in the Press two or three meals,
turning it in the Press once between the first meals, and at each meal
after--she followed my advice precisely, the Milk being at rest before
I left the house. Some time after, I enquired of her how my advice
succeeded; she said quite well, and I am convinced we had not made half
the Cheese we ought to have done. But observed, their Pigs had been
found to thrive in a surprizing manner, and well they might, after
having had more than half the produce of the Dairy.
I once met with a young Dairy-woman at a Fair; who had a lot of
Cheese unsold, after almost every Dairy in the Yard it stood in was
disposed of; she asked me to buy her Cheese, having bought some
adjoining Dairys; I objected, saying I do not like it, she seemed
rather surpriz’d, saying, I am sure ’tis made of as good Milk and as
well took care of as any of my neighbours that you have bought, I told
her the method she took in making the Cheese was wrong, she seemed
quite desirous to improve it if she knew how. I desired her to follow
the method described above, exactly, which she promised to do, but
observed it was so contrary to what she had ever heard of, she should
be surprized if it made good Cheese. I said the Cheese you have here
is very bad, the way to make good Cheese must be contrary to that
in which this was made, for the like reason as when a person is in
a burning fever, cooling medicines are applied to restore him; when
very chill, a warming remedy will have effect--she wish’d to know what
were the faults of her Cheese; I told her it was very loose, sweet,
or ill-tasted; that rather displeased her, and she seemed to mistrust
my knowing any thing of the matter--saying--it is not sweet--how
can you possibly know that never tasted it, I told her Cheese of
that countenance always was sweet. I put my taster into one and gave
it her to taste, she acknowledged it was very rank, but wondered
how I could know it was so--I perceived the Cheese of an unsettled
nature, that I had not a doubt the Milk had been carried in Churns
or Barrels, I said I imagine your Dairy-ground is some distance from
your House, do you milk your Cows in the field or drive them home, she
said sometimes the latter, but generally the former, and brought the
Milk home on Horse-back. I told her how difficult it was to make good
Cheese of Milk carried in that way; she said I find you know where I
live, I replied I don’t know so much as the County you live in, she
seemed quite astonish’d; I saw a husky dry coated Cheese on the top
of one of the heaps, that had dry cracks in it; I said, I suppose you
remember how that Cheese was made; she answered in the affirmative,
when you made that Cheese, I said, you had reserved some Curd from
the meal before, and put into the other Curd, next meal, which having
been rendled too hot would not join together, as I will shew you by
the different Curds in the Cheese, which I did in my taster, the
white looking Curd being the old Curd which caused the cracks, and
the yellow the New-Milk, (and you may always observe a mixture of
that kind where Curd is kept from the last meal, appearing marbled
and cutting chiselly)--She acknowledged that Cheese was made in the
manner I described, seemed very thankful for my advice, and pursued
it very nearly the next Summer, when she produced at the same Fair
the following Year a Dairy of Cheese with very few faults; I pointed
them out to her, told her how to remedy them, as in the rules before
described; she thanked me, and the next Year with great pleasure shewed
me an exceeding good parcel of Cheese.--A near relation of mine, who
kept a Butter Dairy, was desirous of making Cheese, and said to me,
I am entirely ignorant how to proceed, but if you will point out the
right method, I will exactly follow it, I gave her the same direction
as to the former Dairy-woman, she followed it, and I am certain no one
can make nicer, or fatter well tasted Cheese than she did, being one
Day saying how good her Cheese proved, observed she had one Cheese,
then cut, that was jointed and blue-pared, and wish’d to know the cause
of it; I examined it, and found it must be caused by slip-curd; she
said she never altered, or shortened the Time given for the coming of
the Milk after it was rendled; on ruminating the cause, I said, do you
put your bowl in the Tub when the Runnet is in? She replied always; do
you ever find any difference in the Curd under the Bowl from the rest,
on removing the Bowl?--Sometimes I perceive the Curd under the Bowl
of a smooth slippery nature, and when I have tried to get it solid, I
never could, it always slipt through my fingers, and some of it would
swim in the Whey when the other was solid, which I always took care
to break as small as flour, among the other Curd--I said is the Bowl
being there of any use? She did not know that it was; she took it away
and had no jointed Cheese after, in her Dairy; which plainly convinced
me that the Air under the Bowl prevented the Curd from coming in the
same Time as the rest, and that the small quantity of slip-curd under
it, was the sole cause of the joints that appeared, for there was not
an Eye in the Cheese, owing to its being broke so small, which if any
of the slip-curd had been left in bits of any size, would have caused
Eyes larger or smaller in the Cheese, but now it dissolved in the
form, and manner before described, in jointed Cheese; it is a general
practice with Dairy-women to put the Bowl in the Milk when the Runnet
is put in, and leave it in till the Cheese is come; I have frequently
asked the reason for it, and the general answer was, that by taking
the Bowl out, they might know when the Cheese was come; which will be
much better known by putting the Bowl the contrary way, or the hollow
part upwards instead of being downwards, for there is often slip-curd
collects under the Bowl when put downwards and that makes your Cheese
Whey spring, or Eyey, and for that reason the Bowl had much better
not be put in at all, especially in Cheese that is sunk, and not
broke, as then the slip-curd is sure to cause Whey springs.--Another
relation, being pleased with her Sister succeeding so well, followed
exactly the same method, having wrote down every particular, and her
Cheese was remarkably fine and good. These, and such like instances
convince me that good Cheese may be made by rule, or regular method, on
any Land, providing nothing very singular prevents, as from noxious
weeds, plants, &c. or distempered Cattle. It is often observed poor
Land makes the best Cheese; to those who are fond of mild Cheese, it
very often does, the Milk being weaker or thinner, is sooner collected
into Curd, than rich Milk, by which means it is often completely fit
to sink or gather sooner, and has many chances of making good Cheese
by that means, or in the same time allowed, than from better Milk,
which will not become good Curd in the same time that is given for the
weaker Milk; for if the Curd is not solid and good, no art can make
good Cheese of it. But, if rich pasture, good feeding Land, being old
Turf, has proper time given it to make good Curd, and the Cheese is
well taken care of after, I always find the richer Grass makes the best
Cheese and more of it. To confirm my Opinion, that breaking Cheese in
the Curd is a needless and exceeding wasteful method; being lately at a
friend’s house who keeps a few Cows only to make Butter and Cheese for
their own use, and that of a few friends, the Gentlewoman said to me, I
could wish to know the best method of making fine Cheese, (having met
with such at my relations, before mentioned) and desired my directions;
and said their Cheese was apt to be a good while in coming when in the
Tub, their pasture being rich old Turf. I told them to give it full two
hours, recommended putting salt in the Milk as before prescribed, which
was done, and to sink the Curd instead of breaking it; after having a
long knife made from a lath, cut the Curd from top to bottom, crossing
it many times, by which means the Whey separates readily, then get a
sieve and there with you will press down the Curd with great ease.
Having settled the Curd well, and let it stand a quarter of an hour to
drain, having laded all the Whey out, it became quite solid--then the
Dairy-maid cut it in slices and work’d it into the Vat, without ever
breaking the Curd at all; with very little trouble, and in a short time
she made a complete handsome Cheese; full one third part larger than
any they had before produced from the same Cows, and continued so to do
in succeeding days, the Whey being quite green, which they could never
bring it to be, when broke and gathered in the Tub; and broke in the
Vat afterward, which method certainly wastes a great deal of Cheese and
much impoverishes it by squeezing the fat out in breaking.
A friendly correspondent, being a considerable dealer in Cheese,
knowing of my intended publication, is so kind as to favour me with his
sentiments on some particulars; which, as some of them coincide with my
own already described, and one in particular, promises great utility
to very small Dairys, and will be a considerable means to prevent
sour Cheese, by pointing out a method to preserve the Curd without
hazard, with his permission I lay it before my readers. “I have some
years been trying to find out the reason why Cheese frequently looks
of a grey dirty appearance, and which is always attended with a strong
disagreeable taste, and from enquiries and observations I have made,
I am clearly convinced it is owing to the Runnet being kept too long,
and not being sweet when put into the Milk. It is often the case in
small Dairys in order to make the Cheese of a tolerable full size, to
make it but once a day, and in hot Weather it is almost impossible to
prevent one meal being sour, which must inevitably spoil the Cheese.
I beg leave to inform you of a method practised with good success.
A friend of mine who was a Farmer’s Daughter, and had been used to
a Dairy, marrying a person of a different profession, they kept one
Cow to give Milk for the family, which being small she could not use
all the Milk; she then tried to make Cheese of the surplus, and made
tolerable sized Cheeses, perhaps seven or eight pounds each, in the
following manner; when the weather was warm, she put Runnet to the Milk
as oft as she found it necessary, once or twice a day, while it was
sweet; having separated the Curd from the Whey, she put the Curd into a
broad shallow Tub, just covering it with cold water, and shifting the
water two or three times a day as she thought necessary, and thus kept
the different parcels of Curd, till she had enough to fill her Vat, by
which means, she made exceeding good Cheese. Some good Dairy-women, I
think often err in the manner of breaking their Curd; tho’ they make
good Cheese, they might make better and more of it, if they did not
squeeze out so much of the fat in breaking; the Whey that first runs
from the Curd is always the thinnest, and was that thin part first
separated, before the Curd was much broke, it would certainly leave
the Cream in the Cheese, which would but little of it squeeze out in
putting in the Vat, but when it is broke so very small amongst the Whey
the rich parts are squeezed amongst the thin Whey and carried away
with it. I know an instance or two myself, of persons who I firmly
believe made their Cheese of real New-Milk, yet broke their Curd so
much that their Cheese was not so good as I have had two-meal Cheese. I
think the method used in _Norfolk_ and _Suffolk_ to separate the Whey
from the Curd, is much preferable to that used in _Warwickshire_, or
_Leicestershire_; when they think the Milk is sufficiently curdled,
they lay a strainer into a basket (made for the purpose,) which they
put the Curd into and let it stand to drain for a time, before they
break the Curd.” In regard to my friend’s opinion concerning what he
calls grey, dirty looking Cheese, ’tis often caused by foul Runnet, but
I am of opinion it more often happens when Cows have been drenched,
either for the yellows or other complaints; and it will look of that
countenance and get insipid, or ill tasted when much frozen, as I have
more than once had Cheese in my own possession turn of that dark putrid
colour after being much froze, that I knew was not so before it was
affected by frost.
Being lately in company with a Dairy-man at a distance, talking about
Cheese-making, he said he never used a Cheese press, and said that his
Cheese got hard as soon, and kept as well as those that used a Press,
the method he used is, to make the Cheese in a hoop (being chiefly
thickish skim Cheese, tho’ he said he often made New-Milk Cheese in
the same way) that was open at top and bottom, which being filled
with Curd, and well squeezed into it, was then set upon a board that
had holes bored in it, the hoop also being bored and cover’d with a
board which was bored also, putting a moderate weight upon the board
to settle the Cheese; turning it upside down, twice a day till it got
stiff, and it answered very well. When Curd is firm, it will settle and
get hard with very little crushing, it is the slip-Curd that is in it,
that makes it require so much pressing to settle it, this method will
be very useful in very small Dairys that have no Press.