Burlington free press. [volume] (Burlington, Vt.) 1827-1865, 1855-07-20
A G r | Gu LTU RAJ .
Making Cheese from n 6cy Cov..


Except in the dairy districts, how seldom
do we meet with good cheese on farmers
table how often do we meet with none at
all And yet every farmer keeps few COWS,
sufficient at least to supply the family with
butter through the year, and there is no
reason why every one who keeps two or three
cows should not make GOOD cheese enough
for his own use. More labor indeed, is re-
quired to make a pound of cheese from
small dairy than from large one, but this is
no excuse for not making it, since the same
is true, to certain extent at least in regard
to butter.
Some Of our readers who make an hundred
pound cheese every morning, will be inclined
to smile at the following directions but
nevertheless. we can assure them that we
have eaten the best Of cheese made this way.
There are probably many better methods.
and if our readers know Of any we should be
thankful to hear from them.
The difference between making cheese from
a small and from largo dairy consists prin-
cipally in this. In large dairy the curd Is
made into cheese every day, while in the
smal dairy the curd--9!tai7g' pressed and
lnih2y in a cool place till sufficient guam
tity is obtained for making cheese as de.
sired.
The nights milk should be kept as cool as
possible, and the next morning placed in
tub, together with the mornings milk and
the whole, by adding a portion Of heated
milk, raised to about 90 Fahr. The erennet
is sthen added, the milk well stirred. and
afterwards let alone till the cur1 is we'll
come. The time this occupies varies from
fifteen minutes to two hours, according to the
amount of rennet, temperature, c.,-ths
warmer it is put together, and the more rem
net there is added, the quicker will the
cheese come. As a general rule the longer
it is in coming. the tenderer and sweeter will
be the curd. We should seldom desire it to
come sooner than 40 minute. after the rennet
is added.
When the curd is come, it is broken up
| quite fine either By hand or by curd
| breaker; which cuts it into very small pieces
After this it is allowed to stand and settle
Some persons at this stage raise the tempera-
ture of the whey and curd up to 95 or
| 1909 This is called scalding' The prao-
tice has its advantages. IF the milk is warm
enough when the rennet is added, it may be
dispensed with if too cool, it may be re-
quired. If it is desired to sell the cheese
when a month or six weeks old, high scaldng
| is indispensable, but in making good cheese
for home use we should scald very little if
at all.
| The curd is easily separated from the whey
! by throwing the whole into sieve or on to a
/ cheese cloth. The curd is then placed in q
strong cloth, and well pressed to remove as
much of the whey as possible, This is very
important 1t is then placed in cool place,
and the operation repeated daily,--or every
other day, if the milk will keep sweet, as it
will in cool cellar in the fall.
When sufficient Hurd is Obtained in this
way to make cheese of the desired size, it is
all mixed together, broken quite fine, and
salted. 1t must then be pressed for few
hours a clean dry cloth put round it. in
verted and pressed again. At first it should
not have too heavy pressure put on it, but
it cannot be pressed too dry. 1t should have
dry cloths put round it and kept under the
press till it does not wet them. Many will
object to so much pressure, but we speak
from experience and with much confidence on
this point. Less scalding, and more pressure
would, in our opinion, add greatly to the
real value, and cheese-lke flavor though
perhaps not to the buttery appearance and
salea6le qualities OF most American cheeses
When the cheeseiis taken from the press, it
should have little salt put on it, and be
kept in the dairy, or other cool moist place
for few days. 1t may then be taken to a
dry room, where for the first week or two it
must be turned every day. or the side next
the floor will mould The room should be
well ventilated and nearly dark Country
Gentleman.