Part 3

Working and salting.--After having been properly pressed the cakes of curd are salted and worked with a potato masher or butterworker, or run through a food chopper to produce a smooth, buttery consistence.

Fine, dry salt is sprinkled over the curd at the rate of about 2 or 2½ ounces to 10 pounds of curd, or about two level tablespoonfuls to the curd from 30 pounds of milk. (See fig. 4.) The quantity of salt may be varied to suit the individual taste; the quantities recommended, however, usually give the best satisfaction. If the curd is worked with a potato masher the addition of salt aids in obtaining the proper smoothness of the cheese.

When cheese is made for home consumption it may be placed in a glazed crock or porcelain dish immediately after salting and held at a temperature as near 50° F. as possible until consumed. Under favorable conditions it will keep in good condition for from 6 to 12 days. When cheese is kept a few days at a temperature of 60° to 70° F., it will become disagreeably sour. It is most palatable immediately after it is made, for then it is fresh, soft, and sweet. When very cold, or after having been kept for some time, it does not have so fine a flavor.

Combinations with Neufchâtel and cream cheeses.--Finely chopped pimiento peppers may be mixed with either Neufchâtel or cream cheese at the time of salting. Such cheese has a mild though pronounced flavor and is very popular for sandwiches and salads. The pimientos seem to have a certain preservative effect and tend to cover up “off flavors” that may develop. About 1 pound of the chopped pimientos is added to 12 pounds of cheese, or about one-half pound for the cheese from 30 pounds of milk.

While there are numerous other cream-cheese combinations, there are two that are worthy of especial note--olive-pimiento cream and Roquefort cream cheese. Both of these flavoring ingredients should be added at the rate of 1 part to 10 parts of cream cheese. When Roquefort cheese is uniformly incorporated with cream cheese it gives to the combination a rich and pleasing flavor very similar to Roquefort cheese, though milder.

Molding.--Cheese for home consumption need not be molded. When marketed a special device is necessary in order to shape the cheese into a commercial package. Neufchâtel, cream, and pimiento cheeses require a special style of package. While there are numerous devices for molding, many of them are not suited for meeting market demands. As a result of considerable experimenting the attachments described below were devised to fit the ordinary food chopper and proved to be very satisfactory for handling the several kinds of cheese.

For molding small quantities of cheese the following equipment is desirable: (See figs. 8 to 12.)

1. A food chopper. 2. A hopper. 3. Two molding attachments for chopper. 4. A cheese conveyer. 5. A cheese cutter.

When used for molding, both the knives and the plate should be removed from the chopper; otherwise the cheese will go through with great difficulty. The cheese hopper is a boxlike arrangement clamped to the top of the food chopper to prevent the scattering of particles of cheese upon the worktable. The cheese is poured into the hopper at short intervals, since it is not advisable to keep the hopper more than half full, or the feed screw will not force the cheese so readily through the hopper. If the hopper is full the cheese may become too “gummy” and will not only be difficult to force through the chopper, but will adhere to the long-handled spoon used to push the lumps of curd into the machine. It is advisable to use a spoon in order to keep one corner of the hopper free of the cheese and, by allowing the escape of air, facilitate the grinding of the cheese.

The lips of the molding attachment are fastened to the chopper by means of a ring. The attachment for molding Neufchâtel cheese is cylindrical and is about 1½ inches in diameter at its delivery end. The cheese, forced through this attachment, comes out in the form of a roll or cylinder.

Pimiento cheese is forced into a special glass jar smaller than a jelly glass or a paraffined wood-fiber container held horizontally over the end of the Neufchâtel attachment so that the cheese reaches the end of the container and flattens out without difficulty. (See fig. 5.) If the pimiento cheese is to be used in a short time, the wood-fiber containers are especially recommended, as they are less expensive than glass jars. If the cheese is marketed directly to the consumer, the glass jars may be returned and used again.

The attachment for cream cheese is rectangular at its delivery end. By its use the cheese may be molded into smooth, ribbonlike bands which, as in the case of Neufchâtel cheese, may be cut with a wire into pieces of the desired size.

The cheese is delivered from the attachment on a canvas conveyer, supported by rollers, which turn with sufficient friction to cause the plastic curd to be firmly pressed together as the cheese is automatically pushed forward. (See fig. 6.) The first cheese that passes through the attachment often “frills”; that is, it presents an irregular surface, but later the difficulty becomes less marked, and the cheese comes out with a surface well defined and smooth. “Frilling” occurs more often in molding cream cheese than in Neufchâtel.

Cutting the cheese.--Cream cheese and Neufchâtel cheese may be cut into cakes of the desired size by means of fine wires drawn over a rectangular-shaped framework. (See fig. 11.) The use of this simple equipment makes it possible to cut half a dozen cheeses simultaneously and prevents delay, so that one person may do the grinding while another cuts and wraps the cakes.

Wrapping the cheese.--After cutting the cakes they are slowly carried along by the carrier and eventually fall upon a flat form upon which tin-foil wrapping papers are laid. These papers may be held in place by a cleat or clamp. In many cases it is more convenient to take the cheese directly from the carrier, but when the person who does the wrapping is kept very busy the platform may serve as a place where several cakes may accumulate, thus allowing the grinding operations to be continued. While one person is engaged in filling the hopper and molding the cheese another is kept busy cutting and wrapping. In wrapping, the cheese is placed in the center of the paper, each side of the paper folded over, and the ends turned down, to cover the cheese completely. (See fig. 10.)

Yield.--One hundred pounds of milk containing 4 per cent fat should yield from 14 to 16 pounds of Neufchâtel cheese, while 6 per cent milk should give an average yield of from 17 to 19 pounds of cream cheese. With milk testing less than the above, a smaller yield and a lower grade of cheese will be obtained. Although there may be slight seasonal fluctuations in the solids of milk, yet for the most part the yield of cheese, other conditions being equal, is almost directly proportional to the per cent of fat. There may be variations in yield of cheese, however, due to mechanical factors, such as longer pressing.

Neufchâtel cheese is sometimes made from skim milk, in which case it is used for cooking and baking purposes. Commercially, there are other grades of Neufchâtel made from one-half or two-thirds skim milk. Such cheeses are labeled as made from “partially skimmed milk” or “skimmed milk” as the case may be.

Packages.--Tin-foil or aluminum-foil wrapping paper which has a parchment paper inside is generally used in wrapping cream and Neufchâtel cheeses, since it gives each package a bright, uniform, and attractive appearance. (See fig. 7.) Great care should be taken to wrap each cake neatly and securely in order to exclude the air as much as possible. Any “frilling” or other irregularities may be corrected by drawing the foil tightly about the cheese. Careful and skillful wrapping tends to increase the length of time the cheese is salable. The yellow or amber-colored mold which often spreads over the cheese should be prevented as much as possible, not because it may render the food harmful or poisonous, but because it causes deterioration and renders the cheese less appetizing.

The standard Neufchâtel package is cylindrical, about 1½ inches in diameter by 2½ inches long, and weighs about 2½ ounces net. Standard packages of cream cheese are about 3 by 2 inches and 1 inch thick, and have a net weight of about 3 ounces. The pimiento cheese is marketed in 3 or 4 ounce glass jars, each packed full and covered with a disk of paraffined paper and screw cap.

COST OF MANUFACTURE.

When made upon a small scale the cost of the various items of making these kinds of cheese for market purposes is difficult to ascertain. The cost of manufacturing them on a farm scale would probably be quite different from the cost of manufacturing them on a factory scale. The figures given are based upon the use of 200 pounds of 4 per cent milk, valued at $2.40 a hundredweight, which is made into cheese twice weekly with equipment costing about $25. The cost of the equipment depends, of course, upon that already available and that which may readily be improvised. Under average conditions the approximate cost of the various items of expense involved in making the three kinds of cheese is enumerated as follows:

COST OF MAKING CREAM CHEESE.

With 200 pounds of 4 per cent milk a dairyman should be able to make 24 pounds of cream cheese, and with the skim milk 12 pounds of cottage cheese in addition. At present cream cheese is marketed in 3-ounce packages. Figuring conservatively, the yield from 200 pounds of milk, then, would be about 120 packages of cream cheese and 12 pounds of cottage cheese. Assigning a value of 6 cents a pound for the latter, and subtracting the amount received for it, the cost of the milk used for cream cheese would be reduced from $4.80 to $4.08. The cost of milk for each package of cream cheese, then, would be $0.034.

The cost of special equipment necessary for handling the cheese may be proportioned as follows:

1 food chopper $8.50 6 shotgun cans 5.10 6 drain racks 4.50 2 molding attachments 2.00 1 carrier 1.25 1 thermometer .60 1 hopper .50 1 cheese cutter .50 6 yards of cloth for draining .75 1 pail .85 1 agitator or stirrer. .25 2 spoons, long-handled .20 ----- 25.00

A good food chopper should last 10 years, a drain rack 5 years, and a shotgun can about 3 years. Figuring a yearly depreciation of about 20 per cent, the depreciation charges would be $5. The interest at 6 per cent on the investment would be $1.50, and the interest and depreciation charges per cheese would be 1/12000 of $6.50, or $0.00054.

The labor would require half an hour to pasteurize the milk, about 1½ hours to make the cheese, and another half hour to mold it, or about 2½ hours, actual time for the various operations. However, while in pressing it would require but a few minutes to handle the cheese, the entire pressing operations would extend over several hours. It is assumed, therefore, that the time not used in working with the cheese could be utilized in some other manner. The total labor charge would be 50 cents, figuring labor at 20 cents an hour. The labor charges would then be 1/120 × 50, or $0.00416 for each cheese.

Figuring the cost of pasteurization and separation as 1 cent a gallon, the charge for each cheese would be $0.00192. It would require about 50 pounds of ice for the 24 pounds of cheese, which would make the ice cost about $0.00016. Figuring the rennet at $10 a gallon and the salt at 1 cent a pound, the charge would be $0.00005, and $0.004 for tin foil at 90 cents a pound: