I’ve been wanting to get this done for a long time.  I was thinking of the design when Dave came up with his.  Anyway, I came up with some scrap stainless steel rod, 3/8” and had the frame welded together to fit precisely inside my 5 gal. pot.  Then I notched the sides every 1/2” and strung it with 20# monofilament fishing line.  I’ve enclosed a picture, but all the cross lines are not visible.  I’m going to give it a try this Saturday when I make another Muenster.  The really great thing about it was that it was absolutely free.

Looks great ! was thinking about using fish line myself.

great great, i should have one , i should

horizontal cut is the most pain in cheese making

Used the new knife this morning for the Muenster I made.  I use raw milk so my curd is usually very firm; but this morning it was incredibly firm - the best I’ve had.  So after I made the vertical cuts I slid the new knife down one of the cuts.  When I started to rotate the knife, the curd mass was so firm that the entire mass turned in the pot, rather than allowing the knife to slice through.  So I had to make slight jerking movements to get it to go through.  But when I was done I was really, really impressed.  I have never had such nice uniform curd.  I don’t, however, think that it would work for a smaller cut, given the resistance to the 1/2” knife.  A whisk will likely still be my tool of choice for smaller cuts.  Anyway, I would heartily recommend that everyone have one of these knives built for themselves if at all possible.

Rich,

Can you please share your Muenster recipe?

Thx

This is not a “true” munster, and maybe that’s why it was labeled “muenster.”  Rather its a variety found in the U.S. as I’m given to understand.  Anyway, here goes:

4 gal. whole milk (I use raw milk) to 88 deg. F.
Add 1 tsp. liquid animal rennet and stir for 2 min. 

(You can add culture if you wish, just let it ripen for 10 - 15 min. before adding rennet)

Let set at 88 F. for 45 min or until clean break.
Cut to 1” cubes, let set 5 min.
(you can add 2 Tbsp salt at this point if you wish)
Cook to 102 F. then set for 15 min at 102 F. stirring occasionally.
Drain curd in a sieve or cloth lined colander, 5 - 10 min.

(if you did not salt earlier, place curd back in pot in sink with 102 F. water.  Break up curd, add salt and mix well.

Place in cloth lined 6” mold and press at 30 lbs for 10 min.
Turn, redress, and press at 45 lbs for 15 min.
Turn, redress and press at 100 lbs for up to 12 hours
Turn, redress (or press without cloth) at 100 lbs for another 12 hrs.

Remove from press and rub with salt.  Cure in cave for 5 - 7 days.

Have fun and make variations as you wish.  BTW, this recipe is particularly good when adding peppers.  If you do so, add them after the draining stage when broken up in the pot.

Green Cheese Maker - 19 April 2009 09:56 AM

This is not a “true” munster, and maybe that’s why it was labeled “muenster.”  Rather its a variety found in the U.S. as I’m given to understand.  Anyway, here goes:

4 gal. whole milk (I use raw milk) to 88 deg. F.
Add 1 tsp. liquid animal rennet and stir for 2 min. 

(You can add culture if you wish, just let it ripen for 10 - 15 min. before adding rennet)

Please could you transfer this to the recipe area on the forum home page, so it doesn’t get lost in the general discussion.

About the muenster, is no b. linens culture included?

It should be, but as Rich said it’s not a real Munster.

Please could you transfer this to the recipe area on the forum home page, so it doesn’t get lost in the general discussion.

Done

I tried a small change on the knife.  Originally I had it strung with 20 lb test fishing line.  There was quite a bit of resistance, but it worked quite well.  the nicest looking curd I’ve ever had.  For some reason, which I can’t come up with now, I decided to redo it with 50 lb test line.  Well, I did, and the resistance was twice as great.  Not at all satisfactory.  So I went back to the 20 lb line and used it this morning on a Colby.  I’m going to have to stay with this size - its much better.  The only way I could improve it more is if the frame were of thinner material.  I think that if it were, however, the stretching of the line would bend the frame in at the middle.  So, I’m settling for what I’ve got.  Also, I don’t think one could go much smaller than a 1/2” spacing - the resistance would be too great. I recommend that any of you who are able should try to get one made.

You could cut the reistance by going to a light test weight line.  Smaller diameter = less resistance.  Try 6 lb.  It would be plenty strong enough.

Last time I went to Wallmart I saw in the hunting section stainless steel, strong and thin, thingk I will use this when I do mine.

That stainless sounds like the way to go.  It should be just as thin, if not thinner and it will be much easier to tie off.

Isn’t there stainless steel guitar strings? Granted they’re not as cheap as fishing line probably… I need to make a couple of these… Horizontal cutting is the worst part! Mine probably won’t be free though. I don’t have stainless steel rod laying around. Did it bend easily?

No, its not bent - its welded together at the corners.  As for the SS guitar strings - they would not be long enough and you’d end up with a lot of tied off ends.  Really, the fishing line works quite well.