The Washington times., 1930-08-26
WASHINGTON TIMES FOOD PAGE
FACTS ABOUT
j. S. CHEESE
INDUSTRY

Ages and ages ago, tradition
tells us, an Asiatic traveller diScov.
cred one of mans greatest foods,
cheese. It is a far cry from the
time of the Asian traveller to the
present day. when yer 3OO,OOO.OOO
pounds of factory-made cheese are
rr duced in this country annually.
Cheese-malsing in the United
States started 1 homes and on
the farms by crude .-lethodS.
Gradually, however, inc lstry
passed to small factories and then
to larger ones, where the manu-
facturers sor ":ears continued to
make and mark the lcrge, round
cheeses. But TIE lifficulty o. cut
ting exact amounts of cheese called
for by customers sometimes proved
an III uveni 1C to retailers.
Housekeep,rs, too, found that it
w. not { easy to 'ly cheese
Of the same flavor from week to
week. Furt' ermore, this bulk
cheese had to be carefully
wrapped in the home to keep it
in fresh condition until used up.
So large manufacturer, after
much research, perfected process
Of cheese-making which produced
a rindless cheese of uniform flavor
and quality. completely wrapped
in sanitary, tin .oil-lined boxes or
'ckages.
Good Luck.
It was the good fortune of a
member of the institute staff to
visit two of these American cheese
factories and witness the process
Of ripening, blending. pasteuriz-
ing and packing cheese in the
boxes. She passed through vast
Storerooms where thousands of
pounds of cheese, recently made
and nodded in huge cylinder
shapes, were being ripened for
periods of four to eight months
before using. Then she watched
highly-skilled experts with senSi-
tive finger-tips testing samples of
each lot of cheese, and by the feel
determining the degree of ripen-
ing each needed to have before it
would be ready for use. Next she
saw selected cheese of varying de-
grees of ripeness being cleaned of
all rind and paraffin and made
ready for pasteurization. She
watched the workers carefully
weigh out definite quantities frorn
different lots of these cheeseS.
combine them, and then grind
them together, the first step in
this new process of blending va
rious favored cheese to produce >.
one perfect one.
From the grinder she followed
the cheese to the steam-jacketed
kettles where it was paSteurized
and then reduced to perfectly
blended semi-liquid state. She
marvelled at the ingenuity Of ma
chinery, as the cheese, still in
this molten state and warm, was
poured automatically into five
pound, one-half pound and one
quarter pound foil-lined boxes or
into triangular-shaped individual
portions, and then sealed imme-
diately.
She sampled not only Amer
ican, but Pimiento. Nippy, Nippy
Pimiento. Swiss Brick, Cream,
Camembert, old English, Lint
burger, Caraway and Mustard
Swiss Cheeses as well, all pas
teurized as described above ard
marketed in large and small card
board or tin cartons for the
houSekeeper'S use.
A Fine Texture
American cheese has a me
Slicing texture with all the rich,
mellow flavor of Cheddar cheese,
while Pimiento is similar, but for
the addition of sweet Spanish
pimientos. Nippy cheese is a
smooth-Spreading Cheddar cheese
with a sharp, snappy flavor. while
Nippy Pimiento is similar. but
with the addition of Spanish
pin1ientos. Swiss cheese has the
delightfully."- characteristic flavor
of its kind, with a smooth texture
and mellow body.