The Cook County herald. [volume] (Grand Marais, Minn.) 1893-1909, 1901-07-20
CoId-Cured Cheese.

- q Il
The loss OF prestige which New York
cheese has suffered on account of the
deterioration Of It's quality as COM
pared with the old time cheeses that
made the state famous have led the
investigators at the State Experiment
Station into various lines of inquiry.
Inspired by the belief that cheese, gen
orally, when cured in factories was
held at too high temperatures, a series
of tests was undertaken to determine
the effect of cool curing. The results
have been set forth as follows In a bull
letin recently issued by the station:
Pure milk handled with the great
est care to avoid dirt and odors, and
ripened, set, cooked, drained and
pressed after the most approved meth
DDS, was made into Cheddar cheeses
Different lots of these cheeses We're
made at various times through two
seasons, the lots fol each test being
made from the same vat of milk If
possible OR made from milk Of the
same herd at very short intervals, in
order to secure cheeses Of uniform
quality for comparison when cured
at different temperatures. These
cheeses were then placed in the sta
Ilon curing rooms, where the heat is
under automatic control and can be
kept uniform at any degree between 40
and 80. The different rooms were held
about 5 degrees apart; so cheeses were
cured at SIS, so, IS, 10, rs and 80 de-
grees T. The curing was continued
from two to tive months or more and
cneeses Of the same lots, cured at diff
ferent temperatures, were scored at the
same time by unbiased experts.
Fourteen comparisons were made
between cheeses cured at high and low
temperatures, five comparisons includ-
ing all the Temperatures given and
four, all except the two very high tenn
peratures-
I'm every case the cheeses cured be-
low 60 degrees scored higher in favor
and texture than those cured at high
er temperatures, the deterioration in
quality at the high temperatures be-
ing very marked in some cases. The
average score, home-trsde scale, of the
cheeses cured at and below so degrees
in 1899 was almost 5 points higher on
flavor and rs points higher on texture
65 degrees and above In 1900, when
some cheeses were cured at the high
temperatures of Is degrees and 80 de-
grees, the difference in the scores was
still greater: Flavor SIS points; text
ture, 2.7 points. These are more than
TO per cent gains, 80 far as scoring IS
concerned: but the real advantage Of
the cold curing is greater than this; for
many persons will not touch a poor
favored, poor-textured cheese at any
price, who would consume or handle
freely a perfect article. 1t is only by
Improvement in quality that home
market can be built up which will
take all the cheese the diaries of the
state can supply. Many Of these
cheeses cured at low temperatures
were pronounced nearly perfect in
favor and texture by the scorers. One
says II have tested the cheese (55 de-
grees) and can say that it is especially
fne;" another. "The cheeses all good,
the IS degree F. very fine;'" another,
mos. eco degrees) and (55 degrees)
are very nearly perfect cheeses. Con-
sidering that they were made four
months ago we might say that no
cheese could be made that would show
better at the expiration of that time;"
and of another lot the same expert
says: ''Nos. 1 and 2 $50 and Is de-
grees) are about the poorest we have
had from you and Nos. S and eco and
SIS degrees) the best, particularly No.
s. This we call = a perfect
August cheese