Studies on the Control of Gas in Limburger Cheese

l i m b u r g e r cheese is the d e v e l o p m e n t of gas in the n e w l y m a d e cheese. I n some factories the e x t e n t of this gas d u r i n g the s u m m e r is sufficiently g r e a t to p r o h i b i t the m a n u f a c t u r e of lirab u r g e r a n d the milk is m a d e into c h e d d a r cheese. D u r i n g the e a r l y stages of r i p e n i n g of a n o r m a l l i m b u r g e r cheese, the b o d y is firm a n d solid except for a few m e c h a n i c a l holes due to i n c o m p l e t e m a t t i n g of the c u r d particles. D e p e n d i n g on the a m o u n t of gas present, a gassy cheese m a y have a few r o u n d holes or so m a n y t h a t it resembles a sponge ( F i g u r e s 1 a n d 2). A FIG. 1. Upper cheeses made July 7th and the lower ones July 8th. The left hand cheeses were made from raw milk and the right from the same milk heated to 63 C. (145 F.) for 10 minutes. cheese w i t h few gas holes u s u a l l y develops into a n o r m a l cheese, while one b a d l y blown with gas will not r i p e n n o r m a l l y a n d is u n s a l e a b l e for d i r e c t consumption.