St. Landry clarion. (Opelousas, La.) 1890-1921, 1897-07-24
FARMER AND PLANTER.
CHEESE-MAkI

CHEESE-MAkiNG
A Texas wognan Tells How She Disposed OF
Surplus Milk When Butter Was TReivs
and Onc-IIaif Cents a Pound.
When butter was in demand at 25
cents per pound Z thought very little
of cheese making, but when it dropped
TO 12115 cents / thought very seriously
of finding some other way of using the
milk and labor necessary to produce
good butter.
had saved up number of clippings
from various journals on the subject.
Indeed, the one which has been of the
Texas Farm and Ranch of August Is,
1895, which was clipped from the Ne-
tional Stockman.
All my clippings, however, were
more or less indefinite, and after many
efforts failed to find any rennet, SO I
was almost in despair-no, only cast
down-when | wrote to you for help
sometime last February. Your reply
came promptly with an address where
| rennet might be procured. BY the
| next mail | sent for price list, and
on March made a small cheese by
| directions furnished me with the rem
net.
For my first experiments / used only
| 25 pounds of milk, and my first was as
| good cheese as any have made since,
| though it cost me very much more time
and study than it does now. AS a
| money-maklng enterprise / do not
think many farmers wives will find
| it profitable to make cheese, but to
furnish variety for their own table,
| it is certainly worth while to make a
supply for home use.
| The smallest package of rennet tab
let's costs 90 cents, the smallest case of
| cheese color costs 80 cents, SO you be-
gin with an expense of $1.20, though
| this according to directions, should
make 500 pounds of cheese. My first
/ hoop was diminutive affair from a
toy .'tambourine." / now have good
Y. A. timed iron, 7x9 inches, and a
press made by boy with a good idea
of the use of tools.
4 Now, for the process: / use half
nights and half mornings milk, weigh
it, mix in a zinc tub, place on the cook
stove and stir till it reaches SO degrees,
then dissolve cheese color in cold
water; pour in and stir till your ther-
mometer registers S5 Then dissolve
rennet in cold water and stir into the
milk. The milk should be heated very
| slowly, and at least ten minutes should
elapse between adding the color and
the rennet. After stirring in the rem
net remove the milk from the fire, set
| in cool place, stir ten minutes, then
cover aud let alone for 20 minutes
or half hour. AT the end of this
time your milk is, or should be, firm,
/ glossy curd. Now cut cross ways, and
every other way till it is in small
Jumps, but it should be done quickly.
Then place your milk over the fire and
heat slowly, stirring constantly till ii
reaches a temperature of 102 degrees.
Remove from the fire, placing some
object under one side of the tub sc
that the whey will flow away from the
eurd as you pile 1T (the curd) in the
higher side of the tub. Have vessel
large enough to hold the whey neal
| by with square of cheese cloth tiee
over the top. Now, dip out your whey
and curd, pour on the cloth till all YOU
curd is ON the cloth. Now cover and
let remain few minutes, then yot
will find it matted together, and i
must be cut or pulled apart and replied
so as to facilitate the dripping of tht
whey. Let it gradually cool to SO de
grees, cut, or work it very fine will
your hands, stir in salt about as yol
would salt butter, perhaps a litt1,
more; then your cheese is ready t.
press.
This seems very simple, and like i
might be done very quickly, but th,
books say it tshould occupy five or si'
hours. I generally get a cheese j,
press in three hours, but always los
some of the cream and white whey
which is wrong, and may be because
make too much haste.
If the firm from which / procures
my rennet and hoop advertise in Texa
Farm and Ranch, will you please Civ,
their address with this letter, that tn
sisters of the household may get thei
price list and directions for chees
making.
Nothing is more wholesome thal
cheese, and toasted, or as Welsh rare
bit, it is just the thing for brealSfas
dish. There are all sorts of improve
fixtures and tools for cheesemaking
but it one spends $40 or Sis to be
. gin with it might be just as well t
buy that much cheese and sit on th
gallery and read while the pigs an
chickens enjoyed the milk.-Mrs. L. Z
Hill, in Texas Farm and Ranch.
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