The evening's milk is set apart until the following morning, when the
cream is skimmed off. The latter is poured into a pan which has been
heated by being placed in the boiling water of a boiler. The new milk
obtained early in the morning is poured into the vessel containing the
previous evening's milk with the warmed cream, and the temperature of
the mixture is brought to about 75 deg. F. Into the vessel is
introduced a piece of rennet, which has been kept in warm water since
the preceding evening, and in which a little Spanish annatto (1/4 oz.
is enough for a cheese of 60 lb.) is dissolved. (Marigolds, boiled in
milk, are occasionally used for colouring cheese, to which they
likewise impart a pleasant flavour. In winter, carrots scraped and
boiled in milk, and afterwards strained, will produce a richer colour;
but they should be used with moderation, on account of their taste.)
The whole is now stirred together, and covered up warm for about an
hour, or until it becomes curdled; it is then turned over with a bowl
and broken very small. After standing a little time, the whey is drawn
from it, and as soon as the curd becomes somewhat more solid it is cut
into slices and turned over repeatedly, the better to press out the
whey.
The curd is then removed from the tub, broken by hand or cut by a
curd-breaker into small pieces, and put into a cheese vat, where it is
strongly pressed both by hand and with weights, in order to extract
the remaining whey. After this it is transferred to another vat, or
into the same if it has in the meantime been well scalded, where a
similar process of breaking and expressing is repeated, until all the
whey is forced from it. The cheese is now turned into a third vat,
previously warmed, with a cloth beneath it, and a thin loop of binder
put round the upper edge of the cheese and within the sides of the
vat, the cheese itself being previously enclosed in a clean cloth, and
its edges placed within the vat, before transfer to the cheese-oven.
These various processes occupy about six hours, and eight more are
requisite for pressing the cheese, under a weight of 14 or 15 cwt. The
cheese during that time should be twice turned in the vat. Holes are
bored in the vat which contains the cheese, and also in the cover of
it, to facilitate the extraction of every drop of whey. The pressure
being continued, the cheese is at length taken from the vat as a firm
and solid mass.
On the following morning and evening it must be again turned and
pressed; and also on the third day, about the middle of which it
should be removed to the salting-chamber, where the outside is well
rubbed with salt, and a cloth binder passed round it which is not
turned over the upper surface. The cheese is then placed in brine
extending half-way up in a salting-tub, and the upper surface is
thickly covered with salt. Here it remains for nearly a week, being
turned twice in the day. It is then left to dry for two or three days,
during which period it is turned once--being well salted at each
turning--and cleaned every day. When taken from the brine it is put on
the salting benches, with a wooden girth round it of nearly the
thickness of the cheese, where it stands a few days, during which time
it is again salted and turned every day. It is next washed and dried;
and after remaining on the drying benches about seven days, it is once
more washed in warm water with a brush, and wiped dry. In a couple of
hours after this it is rubbed all over with sweet whey butter, which
operation is afterwards frequently repeated; and, lastly, it is
deposited in the cheese- or store-room--which should be moderately
warm and sheltered from the access of air, lest the cheese should
crack--and turned every day, until it has become sufficiently hard and
firm. These cheeses require to be kept a considerable time.
As a matter of fact, there are three different modes of cheese-making
followed in Cheshire, known as the _early_ ripening, the _medium_
ripening and the _late_ ripening processes. There is also a method
which produces a cheese that is permeated with "green mould" when
ripe, called "Stilton Cheshire"; this, however, is confined to limited
districts in the county. The early ripening method is generally
followed in the spring of the year, until the middle or end of April;
the medium process, from that time till late autumn, or until early in
June, when the late ripening process is adopted and followed until the
end of September, changing again to the medium process as the season
advances. The late ripening process is not found to be suitable for
spring or late autumn make. There is a decided difference between
these several methods of making. In the early ripening system a larger
quantity of rennet is used, more acidity is developed, and less
pressure employed than in the other processes. In the medium ripening
process a moderate amount of acidity is developed, to cause the
natural drainage of the whey from the curd when under press. In the
late ripening system, on the other hand, the development of acidity is
prevented as far as possible, and the whey is got out of the curd by
breaking down finer, using more heat, and skewering when under press.
In the Stilton Cheshire process a larger quantity of rennet is used,
and less pressure is employed, than in the medium or late ripening
systems.
It is hardly possible to enunciate any general rules for the making of
Stilton cheese, which differs from Cheddar and Cheshire in that it is
not subjected to pressure. Mr J. Marshall Dugdale, in 1899, made a visit
of inspection to the chief Leicestershire dairies where this cheese is
produced, but in his report[9] he stated that every Stilton cheese-maker
worked on his own lines, and that at no two dairies did he find the
details all carried out in the same manner. There is a fair degree of
uniformity up to the point when the curd is ladled into the
straining-cloths, but at this stage, and in the treatment of the curd
before salting, diversity sets in, several different methods being in
successful use. Most of the cheese is made from two curds, the highly
acid curd from the morning's milk being mixed with the comparatively
sweet curd from the evening's milk. Opinion varies widely as to the
degree of tightening of the straining-cloths. No test for acidity
appears to be used, the amount of acidity being judged by the taste,
feel and smell of the curd. When the desired degree of acidity has
developed, the curd is broken by hand to pieces the size of small
walnuts, and salt is added at the rate of about 1 oz. to 4 lb. of dry
curd, or 1 oz. to 3(1/2) lb. of wet curd, care being taken not to get
the curd pasty. If a maker has learnt how to rennet the milk properly,
and how to secure the right amount of acidity at the time of
hooping--that is, when the broken and salted curd is put into the wooden
hoops which give the cheese its shape--he has acquired probably two of
the most important details necessary to success. It was formerly the
custom to add cream to the milk used for making Stilton cheese, but the
more general practice now is to employ new milk alone, which yields a
product apparently as excellent and mellow as that from enriched milk.
As a cheese matures or becomes fit for consumption, not only is there
produced the characteristic flavour peculiar to the type of cheese
concerned, but with all varieties, independently of the quality of
flavours developed, a profound physical transformation of the casein
occurs. In the course of this change the firm elastic curd "breaks
down"--that is, becomes plastic, whilst chemically the insoluble casein
is converted into various soluble decomposition products. These ripening
phenomena--the production of flavour and the breaking down of the casein
(that is, the formation of proper texture)--used to be regarded as
different phases of the same process. As subsequently shown, however,
these changes are not necessarily so closely correlated. The theories
formerly advanced as explanatory of the ripening changes in cheese were
suggestive rather than based upon experimental data, and it is only
since 1896 that careful scientific studies of the problem have been
made. Of the two existing theories, the one, which is essentially
European, ascribes the ripening changes wholly to the action of living
organisms--the bacteria present in the cheese. The other, which had its
origin in the United States, asserts that there are digestive
enzymes--that is, unorganized or soluble ferments--inherent in the milk
itself that render the casein soluble. The supporters of the bacterial
theory are ranged in two classes. The one, led by Duclaux, regards the
breaking down of the casein as due to the action of liquefying bacteria
(Tyrothrix forms). On the other hand, von Freudenreich has ascribed
these changes to the lactic-acid type of bacteria, which develop so
luxuriantly in hard cheese like Cheddar.
With regard to the American theory, and in view of the important
practical results obtained by Babcock and Russell at the Wisconsin
experiment station, the following account[10] of their work is of
interest, especially as the subject is of high practical importance. In
1897 they announced the discovery of an inherent enzyme in milk, which
they named _galactase_, and which has the power of digesting the casein
of milk, and producing chemical decomposition products similar to those
that normally occur in ripened cheese. The theory has been advanced by
them that this enzyme is an important factor in the ripening changes;
and as in their experiments bacterial action was excluded by the use of
anaesthetic agents, they conclude that, so far as the breaking down of
the casein is concerned, bacteria are not essential to this process. In
formulating a theory of cheese-ripening, they have further pointed out
the necessity of considering the action of rennet extract as a factor
concerned in the curing changes. They have shown that the addition of
increased quantities of rennet extract materially hastens the rate of
ripening, and that this is due to the pepsin which is present in all
commercial rennet extracts. They find it easily possible to
differentiate between the proteolytic action--that is, the decomposing
of proteids--of pepsin and galactase, in that the first-named enzyme is
incapable of producing decomposition products lower than the peptones
precipitated by tannin. They have shown that the increased
solubility--the ripening changes--of the casein in cheese made with
rennet is attributable solely to the products peculiar to peptic
digestion. The addition of rennet extract or pepsin to fresh milk does
not produce this change, unless the acidity of the milk is allowed to
develop to a point which experience has shown to be the best adapted to
the making of Cheddar cheese. The _rationale_ of the empirical process
of ripening the milk before the addition of the rennet is thus
explained. In studying the properties of galactase it was further found
that this enzyme, as well as those present in rennet extract, is
operative at very low temperatures, even below freezing-point. When
cheese made in the normal manner was kept at temperatures ranging from
25 deg. to 45 deg. F. for periods averaging from eight to eighteen
months, it was found that the texture of the product simulated that of a
perfectly ripened cheese, but that such cheese developed a very mild
flavour in comparison with the normally-cured product. Subsequent
storage at somewhat higher temperatures gives to such cheese a flavour
the intensity of which is determined by the duration of storage. This
indicates that the breaking down of the casein and the production of the
flavour peculiar to cheese are in a way independent of each other, and
may be independently controlled--a point of great economic importance in
commercial practice. Although it is generally believed that cheese
ripened at low temperatures is apt to develop a more or less bitter
flavour, the flavours in the cases described were found to be
practically perfect. Under these conditions of curing, bacterial
activity is inoperative, and these experiments are held to furnish an
independent proof of the enzyme theory.
Not only are these investigations of interest from the scientific
standpoint, as throwing light on the obscure processes of cheese-curing,
but from a practical point of view they open up a new field for
commercial exploitation. The inability to control the temperature in the
ordinary factory curing-room results in serious losses, on account of
the poor and uneven quality of the product, and the consumption of
cheese has been greatly lessened thereby. These conditions may all be
avoided by this low-temperature curing process, and it is not improbable
that the cheese industry may undergo important changes in methods of
treatment. With the introduction of cold-storage curing, and the
necessity of constructing centralized plant for this purpose, the cheese
industry may perhaps come to be differentiated into the manufacture of
the product in factories of relatively cheap construction, and the
curing or ripening of the cheese in central curing stations. In this way
not only would the losses which occur under present practices be
obviated, but the improvement in the quality of the cured product would
be more than sufficient to cover the cost of cold-storage curing.
The characteristics of typical specimens of the different kinds of
English cheese may be briefly described. Cheddar cheese possesses the
aroma and flavour of a nut--the so-called "nutty" flavour. It should
melt in the mouth, and taste neither sweet nor acid. It is of flaky
texture, neither hard nor crumbly, and is firm to the touch. It is
early-ripening and, if not too much acid is developed in the making,
long-keeping. Before all others it is a cosmopolitan cheese. Some
cheeses are "plain," that is, they possess the natural paleness of the
curd, but many are coloured with annatto--a practice that might be
dispensed with. The average weight of a Cheddar cheese is about 70 lb.
Stilton cheese is popularly but erroneously supposed to be commonly made
from morning's whole milk with evening's cream added, and to be a
"double-cream" cheese. The texture is waxy, and a blue-green mould
permeates the mass if well ripened; the flavour is suggestive of decay.
The average weight of a Stilton is 15 lb. Cheshire cheese has a fairly
firm and uniform texture, neither flaky on the one hand nor waxy on the
other; is of somewhat sharp and piquant flavour when fully ripe; and is
often--at eighteen months old, when a well-made Cheshire cheese is at
its best--permeated with a blue-green mould, which, as in the case of
Stilton cheese, contributes a characteristic flavour which is much
appreciated. Cheshire cheese is, like Cheddar, sometimes
highly-coloured, but the practice is quite unnecessary; the weight is
about 55 lb. Gloucester cheese has a firm, somewhat soapy, texture and
sweet flavour. Double Gloucester differs from single Gloucester only in
size, the former usually weighing 26 to 30 lb., and the latter 13 to 15
lb. Leicester cheese is somewhat loose in texture, and mellow and moist
when nicely ripened. Its flavour is "clean," sweet and mild, and its
aroma pleasant. To those who prefer a mild flavour in cheese, a perfect
Leicester is perhaps the most attractive of all the so-called "hard"
cheese; the average weight of such a cheese is about 35 lb. Derby cheese
in its best forms is much like Leicester, being "clean" in flavour and
mellow. It is sometimes rather flaky in texture, and is slow-ripening
and long-keeping if made on the old lines; the average weight is 25 lb.
Lancashire cheese, when well made and ripe, is loose in texture and is
mellow; it has a piquant flavour. As a rule it ripens early and does not
keep long. Dorset cheese--sometimes called "blue vinny" (or veiny)--is
of firm texture, blue-moulded, and rather sharp-flavoured when fully
ripe; it has local popularity and the best makes are rather like
Stilton. Wensleydale cheese, a local product in North Yorkshire, is of
fairly firm texture and mild flavour, and may almost be spread with a
knife when ripe; the finest makes are equal to the best Stilton.
Cotherstone cheese, also a Yorkshire product, is very much like Stilton
and commonly preferable to it. The blue-green mould develops, and the
cheese is fairly mellow and moist, whereas many Stiltons are hard and
dry. Wiltshire cheese, in the form of "Wilts truckles," may be described
as small Cheddars, the weight being usually about 16 lb. Caerphilly
cheese is a thin, flat product, having the appearance of an undersized
single Gloucester and weighing about 8 lb.; it has no very marked
characteristics, but enters largely into local consumption amongst the
mining population of Glamorganshire and Monmouthshire. Soft cheese of
various kinds is made in many localities, beyond which its reputation
scarcely extends. One of the oldest and best, somewhat resembling
Camembert when well ripened, is the little "Slipcote," made on a small
scale in the county of Rutland; it is a soft, mellow, moist cheese, its
coat slipping off readily when the cheese is at its best for
eating--hence the name. Cream cheese is likewise made in many districts,
but nowhere to a great extent. A good cream cheese is fairly firm but
mellow, with a slightly acid yet very attractive flavour. It is the
simplest of all cheese to make--cream poured into a perforated box lined
with loose muslin practically makes itself into cheese in a few days'
time, and is usually ripe in a week.
In France the pressed varieties of cheese with hard rinds include
Gruyere, Cantal, Roquefort and Port Salut. The first-named, a
pale-yellow cheese full of holes of varying size, is made in Switzerland
and in the Jura Mountains district in the east of France; whilst Cantal
cheese, which is of lower quality, is a product of the midland districts
and is made barrel-shape. Roquefort cheese is made from the milk of
ewes, which are kept chiefly as dairy animals in the department of
Aveyron, and the cheese is cured in the natural mountain caves at the
village of Roquefort. It is a small, rather soft, white cheese,
abundantly veined with a greenish-blue mould and weighs between 4 and 5
lb. The Port Salut is quite a modern cheese, which originated in the
abbey of that name in Mayenne; it is a thin, flat cheese of
characteristic, and not unattractive odour and flavour. The best known
of the soft unpressed cheeses are Brie, Camembert and Coulommiers,
whilst Pont l'Eveque, Livarot and other varieties are also made. After
being shaped in moulds of various forms, these cheeses are laid on straw
mats to cure, and when fit to eat they possess about the same
consistency as butter. The Neufchatel, Gervais and Bondon cheeses are
soft varieties intended to be eaten quite fresh, like cream cheese.
Of the varieties of cheese made in Switzerland, the best known is the
Emmenthaler, which is about the size of a cart-wheel, and has a weight
varying from 150 to 300 lb. It is full of small holes of almost uniform
size and very regularly distributed. In colour and flavour it is the
same as Gruyere. The Edam and Gouda are the common cheeses of Holland.
The Edam is spherical in shape, weighs from 3 to 4 lb., and is usually
dyed crimson on the outside. The Gouda is a flat cheese with convex
edges and is of any weight up to 20 lb. Of the two, the Edam has the
finer flavour. Limburger is the leading German cheese, whilst other
varieties are the Backstein and Munster; all are strong-smelling.
Parmesan cheese is an Italian product, round and flat, about 5 in.
thick, weighing from 60 to 80 lb. and possessed of fine flavour.
Gorgonzola cheese, so called from the Italian town of that name near
Milan, is made in the Cheddar shape and weighs from 20 to 40 lb. When
ripe it is permeated by a blue mould, and resembles in flavour,
appearance and consistency a rich old Stilton.
For descriptions of all the named varieties of cheese, see _Bulletin
105 of the Bureau of Animal Industry_ (U.S. Department of Agriculture,
Washington), issued 27th of June 1908, compiled by C. F. Doane and H.
W. Lawson.