Where There's a Wheel, There's Whey Quiz

Answer: The bonier native cattle, because they're producing extra milk when fed more, like good milk cows

In the mid-nineteenth century, Holstein cattle--the black-and-white spotted cows that are so common in dairies today--weren't widespread yet in the US, but when they arrived later from Europe, they were by far the best milk cattle. Shorthorns (today called Milking Shorthorns), or Jerseys or Guernseys were considered among the best milking purebreds in the US at that time. However, the purebreds I was offered were Herefords, famous for producing beef but giving little milk. They were generally recognizable due to their matching white faces, brown bodies and muscular appearance.

Like most beef breeds, Herefords put excess feed into muscle and fat, but a profitable dairy owner needs cattle that put extra feed into making more milk, which always leaves the cattle looking a little bony even when they're fully fed and healthy. Those native cattle could be a good value if they came with impressive milking records, while Herefords would never give much milk.

Answer: Yes, use a bull; if not bred, the cows will give far less milk next year and may dry up entirely

Milk cows need to be "freshened" every year by giving birth to a calf, or their milk production declines. The usual practice in the nineteenth century was to stop milking for a month before birth, let the calf drink the nutritious colostrum for a few days, then wean the calf gradually, feeding it less-valuable skim milk and grain mash.

Though the birth and weaning process took some of the mother's milk, her overall production remained high, and the calf could be sold to recoup some of the value lost, or kept to replace older cows who were no longer producing well.

Answer: Yes, milk Sunday, otherwise the cows could have over full udders or worse health complications

Milk builds up in cows' udders every day and they'll feel better if the pressure is removed. If they're not milked regularly, the udder can become diseased, swollen and painful. "Garget" was a mid-nineteenth century name for one common condition caused by not milking regularly, though it's usually called "mastitis" today.

It's now understood to be a bacterial infection that can be treated with antibiotics, but it should be prevented by regular milking. Cows do need to be handled regularly, but they won't forget their training in one day.

Answer: Construct a partially underground stone "spring house" for keeping milk and butter fresh and cool

A spring house took the place of refrigeration in a nineteenth century dairy, which still needed to keep butter and fresh milk in a cool, odor-free room even before electricity. A spring house also kept plenty of water accessible for washing all the buckets, bowls, paddles, churns, and other utensils.

Because the little building was partially underground like a cool cave, the spring house naturally kept the air below 60 degrees F, or close to it, even on hot summer days, and it also prevented milk from freezing in winter. Additionally, the steady flow of pure water kept the air smelling fresh, which meant the milk wouldn't pick up musty odors. Containers of milk or butter could be set directly in the flowing troughs at waist height.

As for the other answers: The little dampness from a spring wouldn't be unhealthy, but cows would trample the water into mud if it flowed straight onto the ground. A pond might be a nice luxury, but wouldn't be the best use for a dairy that had so many things to keep cool and wash.

Answer: After a week, the waiting milk or cream will go sour and make rancid butter

Most nineteenth century dairy people felt that milk or cream turned into butter most easily when it was just barely starting to sour, so they might wait half a day or overnight before churning. But in the era before refrigeration, milk or cream would definitely be sour after sitting a week in a cellar and would therefore make rancid butter, which would taste bad and become even more rancid after the customer bought it and took it home.

The best dairies churned smaller amounts regularly, washed the butter thoroughly in clean water and salted it. Their customers could be confident that the butter would taste fresh and keep fresh for a long time, even if it took more work, so the extra work was more profitable in the long run because the butter was more valuable.

Dairy people disagreed about whether they should churn just the cream or the whole milk, the answer depending on things like the local market for whole milk and many other factors.

Answer: Rennet

Rennet makes milk thicken into curds. Nineteenth century dairies usually used rennet made from the lining of a suckling calf's stomach, but vegetable rennet also existed and there are various commercial rennets now.

Fresh curds are tasty to eat, like junket or bland yoghurt, and they can be flavored with sugar, nutmeg or other things to make them really good, but they spoil quickly, so they were a treat around cheesemaking time in the nineteenth century but weren't available all the time unless specially made.

Answer: Whey

Whey is strained off the curds, and is a treat in itself. One can add sugar, lemon and nutmeg or other flavorings to create a tasty drink, or pour some back over the curds and sweeten it to make a soft pudding. Lke curds, whey spoiled quickly, so it was plentiful when a dairy was making cheese, but not as common the rest of the time. Excess curds or whey could also be fed to pigs, calves or other animals.

Buttermilk was the liquid left after milk or cream was curned into butter. Cream rose to the top after fresh whole milk sat a day or so. Skim milk or skimmed milk was the liquid left after the cream was skimmed off.

Answer: Fresh curds that haven't aged into ripe cheese yet

After draining and pressing the whey from the curds with a heavy weight, a cheesemaker forces the curds into a round wheel-like shape and lets them age, when they slowly ripen into the cheese we're familiar with. Before they age, the curds are called "green cheese," which looks something like the surface of the full moon: round, nearly white, a little uneven with craters and indentations.

In this case, "green" has nothing to with the color, but instead refers to the unripe state of the curds, and is related to other nineteenth century uses of the word like "green corn" or "green peas" or "green wood," some of which we still use today, meaning soft and not mature rather than mature and hard.

Answer: It presses the fresh curds into a solid wheel of cheese and drains extra whey

As a final step before a wheel of cheese is put aside to age and ripen, it needs squeezed in a cheese press to drain off as much remaining whey as possible and to force the curds together into a solid mass. Mid-nineteenth-century presses might use either a lever or screws to exert a heavy downward pressure on the curds, which were held in by a band along the edge, but open underneath, so the whey was free to drain.

After being pressed, the cheese was removed and set on a cool, dry shelf to finish ripening.

Answer: Annatto

A yellow or orange dye could be used fraudulently to make white butter from poorly fed cows look richer, or as a traditional decorative color for some kinds of cheese.

Annatto, produced from the seeds of tropical trees, is still used today as a food dye, especially for dairy products but for other foods as well. It's considered safe for consumption, though may trigger allergies in a few people. We've come to associate a yellow or orange color with some traditional cheeses for so long, like cheddar, that they seem pale if left their normal color.