American citizen. [volume] (Canton, Miss.) 1864-1890, 1875-03-13
About Cheese.

MILK, IL allowed To become sour, VIII
eventually curdle, when the whey is
easily separated; and this simple mode
was probably the universal method OF
making cheese in ancient times.
Cheese is made from caseine, an ingre-
dent of milk held in solution by means
of an alkali, which it requires the pres
ence of an acid to neutraliZe. This, in
modern manufacture, is artiticially add
ed to form the curd; but the acidity OF
milk, after standing, acts in the same
manner to produce coagulation. This is
due to the change of the milk sugar into
Tactic acid.
Cheese has been made and used as an
article of food from very early date. /,
was well known TO the early Jewish patri.
archs, and is frequently mentioned in the
earliest Hebrew records. Hast thou
not poured me out as milk, and curdled
me like cheese?" says Job; and David
was sent to "carry ten cheeSes to the
Captain of their thousand in the camp
Most of the ancient nations, indeed, bar
barous as well as civilized, made it a
prominent article of food. But cheese
as made by the ancients, was found to be
hard and brittle, and not well Favored
and means were devised to produce the
same effect while the milk still remained
| sweet. 1t was observed that acids o
| various kinds would answer, and vinegar
| was used; and cream of tartar, muriatit
| acid and sour milk, added to sweet, pro
| duced a rapid coagulation. In Sweden
| Norway and other countries a handful OF
the plant known as butterwort is some
| times mixed with the food of the COW, t.
cause the milk to coagulate readily. 4
| few hours after milking the curd i.
formed without the addition of an acid
Milk taken into the stomach of the CAL
was found to curdle rapidly, even while
| sweet, and hence the use of rennct, which
is simply the stomach of the calf, pre-
pared by washing, sailing and drying
| Tor preservation. This acts the mos
surely, and, if properly prepared and
preserved, is the least objectionable o
any article now known; and is, in fact
The natural mode Of curdiing the milk a:
it enters the stomach, preparatory to tho
process of digestion. Besides this, it i:
generally the cheapest and most availa
| bic for the farmer.
The richness of cheese depends very
much upon the amount of butter or oily
matter it contains. 1t may be made en-
t!rely of cream, or from whole or un
| skinned milk, to which the cream OF
other milk is added. or from milk from
which part of its cream has been taken
or from ordinary skim milk, or from
milk that has been skinned three OF
four times, SO as to remove nearly every
particle of cream, or from buttermilk
| The acid used in curdling milk acts upoI
| the caseine alone. ana not upon the but
| ter particles, which are imbedded in the
curd as it hardens, and thus increases
its richness and flavor without adding
to its consistency, which is due to the
caseine.
1t is evident, therefore, that cheese
made entirely OF cream cannot have the
| tirmness and consistency of ordinary
cheese. 1t is only made for immediate
use, and cannot be kept long. 1t is, il
fact, little more than thick, dried, sweet
cream, from which all the milk has beer
pressed On the other hand, skim milk
cheese has the opposite fault of being
too hard and tough, and destitute of fla
vor and richness. The best quality OF
cheese is made from full milk, or from
milk to which some extra cream is
aided, as in the English Stilton, re-
| nOwned for its richness and flavor The
Gloucester, Cheshire, Cheddar, Dunlor
and the Dutch Gouda are made of whole
| milk, us are the best qualities made in
! this country.
The process of making cheese is botl
| chemical and mechanical The heating
of the milk at the time of adding the
acid or rennet hastens the chemical ,,c
ton, and facilitates the separation of tn,
| whey; at the same time great nicely j,
| required, tor, if over heated, the oily
particles will run off with the whey. Or
| the complete separation of the whey
from tie curd, and the amount OF bu tcl
PARTICLES re aimed in the latter, the taste
or flavor and keeping qualities of the
cheese depend. If properly made, til,
taste improves by keeping, but the chem
| zeal changes effected by age are not very
well understood.
One of the most important processe.
in the manufacture of good cheese is til,
preparation Of the rennet. This is mad,
by the inner lining or mucous mcmbran,
OF the stomach of the young suckin.
| calf, sometimes called the bag or NAV
| and the use of it was undoubtedly sug
| gested, originally, by observing the com
| plete and rapid coagulation or curilin.
| of milk in the stomach of IA calf newl
killed. Coagulation is the first proc ).
of digestion in the fourth stomach of til,
calf. There are numerous glands
scattered in and about the stomach tina
secrete a fluid which readily and almos
immediately accomplishes this coagula
tion. They are always full of it; ever
after the animal is dead they remain
filled with il; and ii the stomach is pre-
served from putretactIon this Huid re
tains It's Coagu1ating quality for con
SIDERABLE period; therefore dairywomeI
usually take care of the stomach of thu
calf, aGd preserve il by sailing IT, an
then, by sleeping 1t, or portions of i, IL
worm water, they prepare what they cal
! a rennet. After the NAV has been saltc'