The Book of Cheese

This historic book may have numerous typos and missing text. Purchasers can usually download a free scanned copy of the original book (without typos) from the publisher. Not indexed. Not illustrated. 1918 edition. Excerpt: …in the curing-room. In being put on the shelves, the cheeses should be placed in contact so as to support one another, until they have flattened out at both ends so much that they can stand upright alone. Then they are moved far enough apart to allow a little air space between them. Another method of securing the flattened ends is to support each cheese on opposite sides by wedge-shaped pieces of wood. After being placed on the shelves in the curingroom, they are turned once a day and rubbed with the bare hand during the first month, twice a week during the second month and once a week after that. When any slimy substance appears on the surface of the cheese, it should be washed off at once with warm water or sweet whey. The special conditions of the curing-room will be noticed in detail below. When the cheeses are about two months old, they can be prepared for market in the following manner: They are first made smooth on the surface by being turned in a lathe or in some other manner, after which the surface is colored. For coloring, some carmine is dissolved in alcohol or ammonia to secure the proper shade, and in this color-bath the cheeses are placed for about one minute, when they are removed and allowed to drain, and as soon as they are dry the outside of each cheese is rubbed with boiled linseed oil, in order to prevent checking. They are then wrapped in tin-foil, which is done very much like the bandaging. Care must be taken to put on the tin-foil so that it presents a smooth, neat appearance. The cheeses are finally packed in boxes, containing twelve cheeses in each box, arranged in two layers of six each with a separate partition for each cheese. 186. Equipment for making Edam cheese.–Careful attention must be given to the…