Page:The New International Encyclopædia 1st ed. v. 04.djvu/636

CHEESE. 554 CHEESE-MAKING. sorts. The distress whieli some persons e.xpcri- eiiee after eatiiij; cheese may be due to a variety of causes, such as over-indulgence, especially at the end of a hearty meal, eating a concentrated food without proper dilution with other foods, or insutticient mastication. There are imdoubt- cdly some persons who cannot eat cheese, ow- ing to some pei-sonal idiosyncrasy not easily explained, just as there arc those who cannot eat strawberries or some other food. In general, it may be said that cheese thoroughly deserves the reputation of being a nutritious and whole- some food which it has had for centuries. Cheese is eaten alone, or combined with other food materials. The more highly flavored kinds are most commonly served at dessert and eaten in small quantities, while the mild sorts often re- place t<i a consi<Ierahle extent meat or other animal food, .and constitute an important part of the meal. Occasiimally cheese causes a severe, or even fatal, illness. This is .due to the growth of peculiar micro-organisms and the consequent production of poisonous subsUmces <-alled pto- maines (q.v. ). But these are by no means con- fined to cheese, and arc likely to occur in many other highly nitrogenous foods. For bcan-checsc, or bean-curd, see SoY Beans. CHEESE FACTOBY. A place where cheese is made on a conuncrcial scale. The first cheese factory in the T'nitcd States was estal)lished at Rome. N. V.. in 18.51, by Mr. .lesse Williams, a farmer and skillful cheese-maker. The idea of bringing together daily the milk from several neighboring farms, to be made into cheese by a skillful operator, has spread extensively throughout the dairy States, and has been adopt- ed abroad. In 180!) the number of cheese fac- tories in the United States had reached over 1000, and since that time this cooperative, or factory, system has practically superseded the making of cheese on farms. There are now said to be nearly 3000 factories in the United States. The advantages of the system are diminished cost of production, a more unifonn and su))erior quality of cheese, a higher and more regular ]irice, "and a great reduction of labor at the farm. Cheese factories are operated on two plans — namely, the stock-company or coiipera- tive system, under which the farmers own and manage the factory, through proper officers : and the proprietary plan, in which an individual owns and operates the factory, making cheese for the patrons for a certain price, which in New York State is usually one dollar per luindred- weight. The milk is hauled to the factory daily bj' the patrons, the distance being in many in- stances several miles. Payment for the milk is usually made on the basis of the weight, account being taken of the amount of milk required to make a pound of cheese. The demonstration that the fat content is a reliable index to the cheese- producing value of milk has led some progressive factories to adopt this basis, which is carried out as at creameries (q.v.). There is a wide dif- ference in the size of cheese factories. Some make only five or six cheeses a day, while others make over twenty in the height of the season. An average-sized factory produces from eight to ten cheeses a day, requiring the milk of about .■?00 cows. The kind made is almost exclusively Cheddar cheese. CHEESE-INSECTS. Insects ati'ecting cheese are a~ follows: f'hecschopper or ('h(vscsl;ip- per, the larva of I'iophilii wi.sci, a snuiU, black, shining, two-winged tly, which lays its eggs on cheese, smoked ham, and chipped beef. The white, slender eggs hatch in twenty-four to thirty-six hours, and the cylindrical, white, tapering larva feeds voraciously upon the cheese, ham. or beef, completing its growth in from seven to eight days, and remaining in the )>upal condition ten days longer. The name is derived from the fact that the larva will bring the two ends of the body together and suddenly release them, like a spring, jumping in this way for 3 or 4 inches. In the L'nited States this insect plays a more important role as an enemy of smoked ham than of cheese. It seems to prefer the outer, fatty portions. The substances attacked should be kept in scrupulously clean, well-aired rooms, the windows should be screened through the sum- mer, and all shelf-cracks should be occasionally washed out with a kerosene enuilsion. Chcfse- mite, a minute, whitish, gregarious mite ( Ti)- roglyphus siro) of a genus destructive to flour, sugar, etc., which feeds upon cheese, leaving a brown, powdery mass of shed skins where it has worked. Cleanliness in the place where cheese is kept is the best preventive. CHEESE-MAKING. The making of Ched- dar clieese. which is the common cheese made in the linitcd States and Canada, and also exten- sively in England, may l)e taken as illustrating the general principles upon which the process depends. The milk used should be free from taint or smell, and of good quality as regards composition. While the casein of the milk is the part which is curdled and gives the body to the cheese, the fat is an important constitiient of the finished i)roduct. and it has been conclu- sively shown tlint the chees<'-prodm-ing power of milk is meas cd by its |)ercentage of fat. Hence the fat content of milk indicates its value for both cheese and butter making. The casein in milk exists in a state of semi-solution, from which it is separated or curdled by acids, as in the ease of sour milk, or by rennet extract pre- pared from the stomachs of young manunals, usu- nlly calves. The latter is most commonly used for producing the curd, as the curdled casein is called. The fresh milk is first ri))eued to the |iropcr degree — i.e. a certain amount of lac-tic acid is developed in it by keejiing it for a short time at aliont 8')" F. The acidity accelerates the action of the rennet. When the milk is sufficiently ripe, the rennet is added in diluted form and stirred in. the milk being held at from S2° to 86" F. Ten or fifteen minutes are re- (piircd to cany the curdling to the proper stage, after which the curd is cut into small pieces with gangs of steel knives, in order to facili- tate the contraction of the curd and the ex- pulsion of the whey. The mass is then .stirred gentlv for about five minutes, and suliscquently heated to about 98° or 100°. the result being the formation of more acid and a further shrink- age of the curd. The object in these ojierations is to separate the whey from the cunl with the least possible loss of fat. Most of the fat is inclosed in the curd mechanically, but some little goes into the whey, the amoiuit de[)ending ipon the skill of the operator. When the curd has assumed the proper consistency (usually judged by its stringing out in little threads when touched with a hot iron), the whey is drawn ofT and the curd is allowed to mat together into a