CHAPTER XII

_CHEDDAR CHEESE-MAKING_

Cheddar is the best known cheese throughout the United States and the one most commonly made in factories. The Cheddar process was brought to America by English immigrants. Similar to Cheddar cheese are Pineapple, English Dairy, Sage cheese, skimmed-milk and California Jack cheese made in this country, and Derbyshire, Leicestershire, Wensleydale and Cheshire made in England. The Cheddar cheese process as employed in the factories to-day has been modified and improved since it was first introduced into this country by the early immigrants. The following description[87] includes only the practices as found in the factories to-day if whole milk is used. Skimmed-milk Cheddar cheese is discussed later.

+192. The lot-card.+--The Cheddar process involves several hours of manipulation and includes many details which should be closely and accurately observed and recorded. The necessity of carrying observations of several different factors at the same time makes a scheme of recording data essential to convenient work. For this purpose, a lot-card for Cheddar cheese is introduced here and the pages given to particular factors are indicated in the space intended for the recording of observations. The manufacture of Cheddar cheese is a complicated process, because several factors must be given attention at the same time. A careful record of the observations of each step in the successive handling of each lot of milk puts the operator in possession of a permanent record of his experience. This record has several uses. It may help to convince patrons of the importance of eliminating faults in the milk; it furnishes the cheese-maker a cumulative record of his experiences in handling milk with special qualities, such as high or low fat-content, over-acidity or taints. Since Cheddar ripening covers a period of weeks and months, no operator can remember particular lots of milk sufficiently well to be able to use his experience on the interpretation of the qualities found in the ripened product.

+193. The milk.+--It is the usual practice to deliver the milk to the cheese factory each morning (Fig. 29). The night's milk is cooled and kept clean and cold until delivered at the factory. It is advisable not to mix the cold night's milk and the warm morning's milk, but to deliver them in separate cans to the cheese factory at the same time. The milk is weighed, sample for fat test taken and then run into the vat (Fig. 30). The receiving or taking in of the milk is one of the most important parts of the cheese factory work. It is practically as important as the actual manufacturing of the cheese.

+21 CHEESE.+ This card must remain with lot ........... from the milk room until the finished product is ready to leave the building, then it should be handed to instructor.

+MAKING+ Day and Date ................................ Vat ............... +Milk | | Used+ | | +Milk+ ........................|............| Appearance of Milk ................ ........................|............| Odor .............................. ........................|............| Taste ............................. Total pounds |............| Weather conditions ................ ------------------------+------------+------------------------------------ ...........% fat ...........lbs. fat | +Starter+ | Kind used.......................... ....% solids not fat ....lbs. s.n.f. | Flavor............................. | Acidity............................ ....% casein ....lbs. casein. | Amount used.......... % used....... -------------------------------------+------------------------------------ +Time of Minutes+ | +% Acid+ | +Temperature+ adding starter }...... | _In Milk_ | of milk when received } | | when starter added... adding rennet }...... | when received............| when rennet added.... } | before adding starter....| when whey removed.... coagulation }...... | after adding starter.....| at pressing.......... } | when rennet added........+---------------------- cutting }...... | | +Rennet Test+ } | | when milk received... turn'g on steam }...... | _In Whey_ | after adding starter. } | after curd is cut....... | when rennet added.... turn'g off steam}...... | at dipping.............. +---------------------- } | at packing.............. | +Hot Iron Test+ dipping }...... | at milling | at dipping........... } | at milling | at packing........... packing }...... | at salting | at salting........... } +--------------------------+---------------------- milling }...... | +Condition of Curd+ } | salting }...... | when cut........................................ } | when packed..................................... hooping }...... | when milled..................................... } | when salted..................................... pressing }...... | when pressed.................................... } +------------------------------------------------- dressing }...... | Amount per | +Color+ | +Rennet+ | +Salt+ | 1000 lbs. milk |.........|..........|........ Total time from }....| | | | setting to pressing} | Total Amount |.........|..........|........ ------------------------+-------+-----------+---------+----------+-------- % fat in lbs. fat estimated | If comments are added on .......whey ....... so lost. | reverse side, put cross here............ % of total milk | Work and ....fat lost in whey | Observations by......................... Assisted by............................................................... -------------------------------------------------------------------------- +YIELD+ Day and Date......................... Time....................... Serial Weight of cheese when removed from press to curing room,......lbs. No.... lbs. milk for Kind of cheese made lbs. cheese per ..........one lb. cheese. ................... ......100 lbs. milk lbs. cheese for one No. of cheese made. lbs. cheese for one ..........lb. fat in milk. ................... ....lb. total solid If comments are added on reverse side put cross here........... Work and observations by.................................................. -------------------------------------------------------------------------- Arranged by W. W. Hall.

Any milk high in acid or with a bad flavor should be avoided. It is often bad policy to reject the milk, for a neighboring factory will accept it and the factory not only loses the milk but also the patron. Factories should have an agreement to prevent this. The acidity can be determined by the acid test, but the detection of flavors must be made by the cheese-maker himself with the aid of smell and taste. Many of the bad flavors in the cheese can be traced to the poor quality of the milk. One of the worst qualities in milk and cheese is the presence of gas-producing organisms.[88] Any milk which shows gassy fermentation should be rejected, for it is difficult to make cheese from this and at best there will be a large loss during the manufacturing process. The cheese may have a bad flavor and develop "pin-holes" and in extreme cases may puff up like a ball. The person receiving the milk should talk to the farmers or dairy-men about the proper care of the utensils and milk. He must see that the cans are kept clean. One very bad practice is to deliver milk and take home whey in the same cans. The cans, as they are brought back from the cheese factory full of whey, are often left in the barn or near a hog-pen until the whey is fed. Unless such cans are emptied immediately on returning to the farm and then rinsed out with cold water, thoroughly washed and scalded, bad flavors may develop in the cheese. It is thought that this causes "fruity" or sweet flavor, which resembles that of fruits such as raspberries, strawberries or pineapples.

+194. Ripening the milk.+--A slight development of acidity is required: (_a_) to obtain the formation of a firm curd; and (_b_) to establish immediate dominance of a desirable type of lactic organism which will produce the large amount of acid required later in the cheddaring process. The development of this acidification before the addition of rennet is known as the ripening of the milk. The extent of ripening advised by different schools of makers has varied from an acidity of 0.20 of 1 per cent or even slightly higher percentage titrated as lactic acid, to about 0.17 of 1 per cent as now preferred by some of the most successful groups of workers. The ripeness of the milk can also be determined by the use of the rennet test.

The milk may be ripened by allowing the lactic organisms already present in the milk to develop naturally. This requires considerable time and while the lactic acid-forming bacteria are developing, other and undesirable fermentations may be taking place, so that the good results which should follow the uninterrupted development of the lactic acid-forming organisms are lost. Starter is commonly used to produce the desired ripening of the milk. (For the preparation of starter see