+154. Coulommiers.+--Another member of the Camembert group is called, from its place of origin, Coulommiers. This form is made at the same thickness as Camembert and about 5¼ inches in diameter. It appears as either a ripened or unripe cheese. As a ripened cheese, Coulommiers is not essentially different from Camembert except that some brands are made without salting. As a cheese eaten unripe, it has certain advantages over the other cheeses with the flavor of sour milk only. The cottage and (American) Neufchâtel group of cheeses comprises the best known forms with the acid flavor. These cheeses are very perishable in nature. On the other hand, Coulommiers as eaten fresh can be held and used over a much longer time without loss. Coulommiers[55] in this sense is simply a fresh Camembert. Such a cheese, when ready for the salting process, is a firm sour mass, close textured, almost impervious to air and but slowly permeable to liquids. Spoilage in such a cheese begins only on the outside, and not throughout the mass as in cottage cheese or Neufchâtel. Successive portions of such a cheese can be removed daily over a considerable period with no loss of substance aside from slight scraping at times and little or no change in flavor. This product has very tangible merit for manufacture and use on the farm in many sections of America. CHAPTER IX _SOFT CHEESES RIPENED BY BACTERIA_ A bacterially-ripened series of cheeses parallels the mold-ripened group as typified by Camembert. Although the varieties overlap, these may be roughly grouped as: (1) those made from friable or soft curd; (2) those made from firm or rubbery curd. In the first group, the curd is set at 86° F., or below; in the second, the rennet is added at 90° F. or above. In the first, the lower temperature and long curdling time with ripened milk gives a soft friable curd which may be toughened somewhat by cutting and stirring in the whey. This section is typified by d'Isigny, American Brie, Liederkranz. In the second, curdling of unripened milk at temperatures of 90° F. or above insures a smooth elastic curd which fuses more or less completely into the firm rubbery mass typified by freshly made Limburger.