I purchased a cheese press off of ebay, which is very nicely done, but in the PVC 4” tube there are no holes, should their be for better whey drainage?  What about grooves at the bottom edges so that the whey can escape?  What do you think?

Thanks all.

My press has what looks like PVC tube and it doesn’t have holes or grooves. Drains just fine.

Cool, I am going to be making a Colby or cheddar this weekend as my first hard cheese.  Hopefully my cheese coloring will get here by then.  Do you think that normal food coloring would work?

Annatto has a chemical property to bond it to curds.

I found this on the ‘net:

Food coloring I have read does not work well at all for coloring curds. It colors the whey, but not the curd.
Adding food coloring to uncolored curds after they have been drained but before they have been pressed leads to an attractive mottled pattern.

TS, thanks for the info.  Mottled specialty cheese sounds interesting, but not til I have a few under my belt.  Hopefully it will get here today or tomorrow anyway.  N.E.C.S. only took two days on the previous order.

Cheers!

9mmruger - 26 March 2008 10:27 PM

I purchased a cheese press off of ebay, which is very nicely done, but in the PVC 4” tube there are no holes, should their be for better whey drainage?  What about grooves at the bottom edges so that the whey can escape?  What do you think?

Thanks all.

with holes or without, it is all related to cheese type

example:

Gouda, cheddar (no holes in the mold)
Stilton, Camabert ... (needs holes in the mold)

and so on

Nabil - 31 March 2008 06:43 AM

9mmruger - 26 March 2008 10:27 PM

I purchased a cheese press off of ebay, which is very nicely done, but in the PVC 4” tube there are no holes, should their be for better whey drainage?  What about grooves at the bottom edges so that the whey can escape?  What do you think?

Thanks all.

with holes or without, it is all related to cheese type

example:

Gouda, cheddar (no holes in the mold)
Stilton, Camabert ... (needs holes in the mold)

and so on

Where would I find that type of information?  I would like to read about it? 

Thanks

I would go with a holy press since its easier to drain. The Commercial molds all have holes that I have seen. Pressing is pendant on the type of cheese u are doing. Individual recipes should say whether it should be pressed or not.

Thanks Neil, appreciate the input.  I went out and bought some more PVC today so that I could have molds with and without holes.  I did my first cheddar this weekend and it is pressed and drying now.  I will wax it in a couple of days for aging.  Working on a feta as I type.

Hopefully, I am getting the hang of it now as my curd was excellent for the Cheddar.  Did a stirred curd.  Couple of months will tell.

Cheers.

practice practice practice