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Home and Farm Food Preservation
Food Preservation Recipes
Chapter XXXV - Recipes for Dairy Products


Most dairy products are best made on a factory scale. This is especially true of cheese. For this reason only one recipe for hard cheese has been given. This recipe has been recommended by the. University of Minnesota Experiment Station as being the most suitable for farm use. The recipe given for cottage cheese is one of the most approved and easily followed. Recipe 146 deals with the preservation of butter by salting.

(142) Gouda Cheese.

This cheese is made from whole sweet milk. One hundred pounds of milk will make 10 lbs. of finished cheese. It is best adapted to home manufacture of the 100 varieties of cheese on the American market. No special equipment is necessary.

1. The Tools. An ordinary washboiler serves very well as a vat. The curd may be heated by placing the boiler on the edge of the kitchen stove. The curd is best cut with many bladed knives called curd knives, made for the purpose, one with vertical and one with horizontal knives; but the cutting may be done with a common wire bread toaster or even with a coil of hay wire.

2. The wooden mold should be made like a strong box, about 10 x 8 in. inside measurement. The top and bottom should be loose and small enough to fall down through the mold; or in other words, to follow down when the cheese is pressed.

The press is made of a cleat nailed against the wall, a box in front, and a 2 x 4 or-pole 10 or 12 ft. long for a lever. A pail of stones makes an excellent weight.

An accurate thermometer is needed for uniform work. The floating dairy kind is most convenient, but an ordinary weather thermometer may be used.

3. The Milk. The best cheese is made from clean, fresh, morning's milk, before it is 4 hours old. If night's milk is used it should either be made up at once or be thoroughly cooled after milking. Milk that is even slightly turned will make a quick acting, hard, dry cheese. If the milk is not clean or is too old the cheese is likely to become gassy and ill flavored.

4. The Rennet. The most practical rennet for farm use is that in tablet form, obtainable from any creamery supply company. One No. 2 fresh rennet tablet will thicken 12 gals. or 100 lbs. of milk. When the tablets are old, more must be used. Just before being used, the tablets should be dissolved at the rate of 1 tablet per pint of cold water. hot water will kill the rennet. Rennet is improved by an ounce of salt to a pint of water, especially if it must be held for several minutes after being dissolved.

5. heating. Heat the milk in the washboiler to 88° F.; not over 90° F. and not under 86° F.

6. Setting. The rennet solution at the rate of 1 tablet per 12 gals, is then added and thoroughly stirred for 2 min. The surface should be stirred for another 2 min. to prevent the cream from separating from the milk and being lost.

7. Holding. The mixture is then covered and allowed to stand at 88° F. until the curd has become thick. This should require not less than 12 nor more than 18 min.

8. Cutting. The curd is ready to cut when it has coagulated enough to cause it to break clear over the forefinger when the finger is inserted into the curd at an angle of 45°, lifted upward and touched on the top of the thumb. The curd is cut into small cubes to allow the whey to escape more quickly and perfectly. Therefore the curd lumps or cubes should be cut in uniform size and about one-third of an inch across.

9. Stirring. Stirring is necessary to obtain a uniform removal of the whey as the curd continually settles and mats into large masses unless broken up by hand or by a small rake. The curd should be stirred gently at intervals until it is sufficiently cooked.

10. Heating. After the cutting and the first thorough stirring, the curd should be slowly heated to about 100º F. This may be done by edging the boiler back on the stove or by pouring clean hot water directly into the boiler or vat. The whey may be dipped off and more hot water added until the desired temperature is reached.

11. Dipping and Draining. When the curd has become so firm that a handful firmly squeezed, will fall apart when released, it is ready to be removed and put to press. Draining can be done by straining through cheesecloth.

12. Pressing. When the whey and water have been drained off, the granules of curd are firmly pressed into the mold or form. If the wooden form is used, a clean piece of cheesecloth should be first laid over and pressed down into the box and then the curd pressed into all corners. When the form is filled the cloth should be folded over it, the follower head inserted, and the whole put to press, first with little pressure and later with more. If the metal form is used, the curd is first pressed in without the cloth to permit the water to escape promptly, but upon being dressed it is covered with thick, firmly woven cloth bandages.

13. Dressing. After the cheese has been pressed for an hour or two it should be taken out and turned over in the form, all wrinkles in the bandage being smoothed out. It should then be returned to the press and should remain under heavy pressure for half a day or even until the next morning, when it should be taken out and put into salt as directed in the next step.

14. Salting. Salting is best done by floating the young cheese in brine made as strong as possible (332 lbs. of salt per gallon of water). Dry salt is sprinkled on the top of the cheese and every 12 hours the cheese is turned over in the water and resalted. This is continued from 30 to 40 hours. It is then wiped dry and stored in a cool place.

15. Paraffining. By the old system the cheese was greased to keep the moisture in and rubbed firmly by hand every (lay to keep off mold, but a better way is to allow the cheese to become slightly dry and then dip into hot paraffin. A kettle filled with water, with half an inch of paraffin on the water, brought to a boil, makes an excellent paraffining tank. If the parafin is too hot, it will draw the fat out of the cheese and will not cling well. If the cheese is too moist the paraffin will not cling well. Melted paraffin may also be painted on the cheese.

16. A cellar or other fairly cool place is best for curing. If too warm, the cheese will ripen too fast and may develop an off flavor, while if too cold it will work too slowly. A temperature of about 60° F. is very good. Cheese made in this way should be ready to eat in from three to eight weeks. It should keel) for six months or more.

(143) Cottage Cheese.

1. Souring the Milk. Allow sweet clean milk to stand in a warm kitchen until thick and "clabbered."

2. Cutting. Cut in small cubes with a case knife. In making large quantities it is well to use regular curd knives. Allow to stand undisturbed for several minutes or until the whey has been fairly well forced out.

3. Heating. heat with gentle stirring to 93-98° F. Allow to stand at this temperature until it is fairly firm to the touch. Then it should be drained.

4. Draining. Pour into a bag of cheesecloth and allow to drain an hour or two.

5. Finishing. Add salt to taste. Cream may be added if desired and also white pepper. Chopped pimentoes or red peppers may be added. Paprika may also be used and adds very much to the flavor. Mix with a large spoon or silver fork. The cheese should be used the day on which it is made.

(144) The Preservation of Butter by Salt.

1. By Dry Salt. Use fresh sweet butter. Weigh carefully. Weigh 1 lb. of salt for each 10 lbs. of butter. Work it in thoroughly. Pack tightly in crocks and cover with salt. Store in a cold place. When the butter is to be used, freshen it by working it in cold water.

2. In Brine. To each 10 lbs. of butter, add 1/2 lb. of salt and work in thoroughly. Make a brine of 3 1/2 lbs. of salt per gal. Pack the butter down in this brine and store in a cool place. Keep the butter immersed in the brine with weights if necessary. Before use, freshen by working iii cold water.


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