Butter Apparatus - Cheese Making

CHEESE-MAKING.-Cheese- Vats.-Quite a variety of cheese-vats are in use, they are built mostly alike, a description of the most prominent ones will be all that is necessary. They all consist of a large inner vat of tin, generally capable of holding from 400 to 650 gallons of milk, suspended in a wooden envelope, leaving a space between the two for steamor water, or to heat or cool the same. The tin vat is arranged so that it may be removed at pleasure

Fig. 966 represents a cheese-vat and engine complete. The vat has a capacity of 600 gallon. The wooden envelope, or vat, is generally made of well-seasoned pine. THE tin for the inner vat is imported expressly for this purpose. They vary in size from 12 to 16 feet long, and from 3 to 3 1/2 feet wide, and 19 inches deep. In small creameries and farm-dairies, cheese-vats called self-heaters " are often used.

There are several methods for warming milk and heating curds ; but Prof. Arnold states, after trying them all, that "throwing steam directly under the milk or whey to be heated is the simplest and cheapest way; dry steam between the vats is most convenient, and water heats most evenly, and holds the heat the longest, but is most difficult to control." Steam is the most popular method for heating, and will probably continue so in the larger creameries.

Curd-Knifes.-In Fig. 967 are shown a number of perpendicular and horizontal curd-knives. When the curd has become of the proper consistence, it is cut in half-inch cubes, first by the perpen-dicular knife, both lengthwise and crosswise, and then with the horizontal knife.

Curd-mills are usually placed over the vats, so that when the curd is ground it falls into the latter. The object is to disintegrate the curd, so that it may be more equally salted.

Cheese-Press.- The gang-press is shown in Fig. 968. This press is constructed horizontally, and the cheese is pressed in gangs from 1 to 12 in each press, and in a horizontal position, as shown in the figure.

In Fig. 969, A is a hoop; B, the side of the follower next the cheese, showing the elastic ring, also representing the perforated bottom seen below E; C, the other side of the follower, showing grooves in which are holes for the passage of the whey; D, bandager, on which the bandage is placed, and;the bandages inserted in the hoop, the lower edge resting on the ledge seen on the inside of the hoop, nearly the width of the bandage from the top, forming a smooth surface on the inside of the hoop.

In Figs. 970 and 971 are shown a curd agitator and scoop of simple construction, which will need no description. H. A. M.,JR.

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