least twenty-four hours. If a screw is used the pressure should be light at first and gradually increased. After the cheese has been in the press about an hour it is removed, turned, a cloth adjusted about it, and the entire surface wiped carefully with a cloth wrung out of hot water.
The sizes in which American cheeses are made depends largely upon the market, the more common size being 15 inches in diameter, and the cheese weighs from 60 to 65 pounds. There is also a very large manufacture of cheese seven inches in diameter, known as "Young Americas" and weighing only from 8 to 10 pounds.
Curing.—The higher the temperature to which cheese is exposed in curing the more rapid the curing process will take place, but the poorer the quality of the cheese. Experience has shown that a low temperature, 55 degrees F. or even less, gives much better results, although it requires a greater length of time. If cured at a higher temperature the fat is apt to exude, and will not be evenly distributed in the cheese. It is, therefore, more profitable, as well as better for the consumer, to cure at low temperatures, producing a superior quality with less loss of moisture and a cheese which sells for a better price.
Moisture in the Curing Cellar.—The cellar in which the curing takes place should contain air with a proper degree of moisture. The relative percentage of moisture in the air as compared with the total amount which it can hold should be from 65 to 75. This is determined by placing in the curing room a hygrometer which registers the degree of saturation.
Qualities of American Cheese.—The quality of cheeses is judged by (1) flavor, (2) body, (3) texture, (4) color, and (5) general appearance. In regard to flavor it is impossible to describe what is meant. Only the connoisseur can determine properly whether a cheese has a flavor which is sound, healthy, and indicative of the highest quality. The cheese flavor should be free from any admixture of other flavors. Cheese resembles butter in this respect, that it absorbs and then gives off foreign flavors with great facility. Therefore in the whole process of cheese making care must be exercised to exclude every odor or flavor of an undesirable character from the cheese house.
Flavor.—Under flavor also may be described taste, which should be of that biting, incisive character due to proper development of ripening and its attendant bacterial and enzymic products. The various foreign flavors in cheese may be due to the odor of cows or the stable or may suggest "rotten eggs," or it may be the flavor of rancid butter due to the decomposition of butter fat in the cheese.
Body.—This is also a term which it is difficult to define. An American cheese is said to have a perfect body when it is solid, firm, and smooth in substance. This quality is ascertained by pressing the cheese between the fingers. When it does not press down evenly between the finger and thumb
