As most of you know, I’ve been awaiting the arrival of my new cheese press and thanks to the man in brown (UPS) I now have it in my possession.
Honestly, I don’t know where to begin with this review…..
First of all, the item was packaged perfectly with lots of bubble wrap on every single part that could possibly sustain damage. If any of you are familiar with UPS, then you realize how important this particular point is.
Secondly, the workmanship on this item is much better than I can put into words.
I could tell from the previous photos, that I’d looked at, that this press was nice but until you see one up close you really can’t begin to imagine how well this thing is put together.
The machine is nice and square and the welds are very professional looking. The paint job looks perfect and the decals add a very nice commercial touch.
Also, Carter has added fitted, plastic end caps to the pressing frame which both protect the surface the press is sitting on while covering any sharp edges from the manufacturing process. This is a very nice addition that adds fuctionality and asthetics.
As you can see from the photos the drain pan has been upgraded both in functional design and with the custom etching (btw. the etching says: Master Series Cheese Press). Not sure that came out well in the photos.
Also, the wooden pressing block in my previous (stolen) photo has been replaced with a solid HDPE food grade block. Much nicer looking in my opinion.
All hoses are supplied and are very generous in length.
The hoses all attach via quick coupling fittings which simply take an easy “push” to finish installation. They are also released just as easily if need be.
Operation of the cylinder is via an air switch that is mounted on the press. To raise the ram you simply push the switch in one direction and to lower you push it in the opposite direction.
The setup and use instructions are very well written and easy to follow and I literally had this set up and was playing with it in WELL under 5 minutes time.
Included is a chart listing the line pressure needed to obtain a certain pressing weight on the mold. In short, it could not be easier or better.
I will post two photos in this post and then two more in a seperate post.
In the first photo you can see both the press and the portable air tank that I’ll be using to operate it.
This will give a good idea of just how compact this press actually is.
During my testing tonight I raised and lowered the cylinder over 10 times and only used about 4 lbs. of air out of the tank. Since I can charge this tank with up to 120 lbs.of air it should work a long long time between refilling.
I set this up at my workplace today and all of my co-workers gathered around to see it in operation.
Although none of these guys could care less about cheesemaking, they were all very impressed with the design and all of them had to give “flipping” the switch a try.
After I told them about my previous press and all of the stacking and unstacking of 200+ pounds of weight, they were doubly impressed!
Thanks to Carter for all of the extra care and added features he put into this product. I could not have asked for anything more.
Okay, I’m getting away from myself a little. Can you tell I’m excited?
Here’s a couple of photos with another couple to follow.
Dave
