Truckle cheeses are usually made in the autumn months, after the excessive heat of summer is over; during which they are liable to heave and bulge, owing to fermentation occasioned by the hot weather.

They are made from six to nine inches deep, and about nine inches across, and are recommended as the most convenient size for the table. It is not easy to fill vats of this description, they are therefore made of small staves like a milk pail or bucket, but without bottom. A piece of board rather larger than the vat is kept at the bottom until the cheeses are turned out.

Truckle, or loaf, cheeses have a tendency to bulge at the sides, great care is therefore required in making them, for unless well made they will not retain their original shape, but lose their beauty. The quality, consequently, is easily determined by the shape. When the vat is half full, a small tablespoonful of fine salt should be put into the middle of the cheese, taking care to rub it well into the curd, but not allowing it to reach the outside, or it would make it crack. In the formation of these cheeses the curd should be made of new milk, crumbled small, and drained thoroughly before putting it into the vats, and it should be pressed in as firmly as possible with the hands. This done, they are ready for the press, where they must remain four or five days, and be turned every day and salted three times. In about twelve months they are fit for use.