Cheese Press weight?
Posted: 25 May 2009 06:12 PM   [ Ignore ]
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Hi, My first posting - so please be gentle with me!

I’m going to either buy or make a cheese press mainly for making cheddar type cheeses. Can someone tell me how much weight is advisable during the last pressing stage?

Many thanks,
Martin.

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Posted: 26 May 2009 12:56 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]
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I’m far from being an expert, but as I’m learning, it depends on several factors such as the recipe, the amount of moisture in the curds, temperature, and the size of the mold. I had terrible results until I learned to properly cook and drain the curds before putting in the mold, my first few attempts ended up with the cheesecloth hopelessly embedded in the cheese and were impossible to unwrap without ruining the exterior. Once I hit on the right consistency and temperature for the curds and realized that pressing is really more about merging the curds together into a single mass and not so much about removing liquid it was like the difference between night and day for me. Rewrapping between pressings has also been very important for my good results.

For my cheddar type cheeses so far I seem to have good results with about 50 pounds for a final 24 hour pressing in my 4 inch mold. But there are several variables so I’d be surprised and skeptical if anybody claimed to have a single value that is best for all cheddar recipes and mold sizes. Every recipe I’ve followed so far has suggested pressing times and weights and I’ve generally been following those.

FYI, I’m using a simple prototype lever press I made from some scrap 1x2 boards I had lying around. I bought a couple bolts with wingnuts and drilled multiple holes to make it easy to adjust the amount of leverage and used a bathroom scale to calibrate each hole for 3 different weight positions, printed it in a table and taped it on the lever arm. It gives me a wide range of force from 10 pounds to about 55 pounds with a single gallon jug of water, and I can double that range by just adding another jug. I intend to make a prettier press with a few refinements born from my experiences using it, but it’s worked so well so far I haven’t gotten around to it yet. smile

My molds are made from 4” and 6” Schedule 80 PVC pipe scrap I got for free from a local irrigation company. They were pretty dirty and scarred up, so I used a dremel tool to quickly grind/sand the exterior and trim the lengths to clean it up, scrubbed out the interior and drilled a nice pattern of drain holes. I “repurposed” a poly plastic food cutting board cut to size with drilled drain holes for the mold base, resting on a half inch ring of PVC the same diameter of the mold, which supports the base well by preventing bowing under the weight.

I already had the tools and wood and since the pipe was free my total press and mold cost was about $2 for the bolts and wingnuts. wink When I’m not using it I can just disassemble it by removing the bolts and it stores away in a closet as easily as a broom.

I decided to go with a lever press because it doesn’t require any special hardware and has virtually unlimited adjustability. It doesn’t rely on spring tension for the main force, so doesn’t need readjustment as the cheese compresses, and is just ridiculously simple to use in my opinion. Then again, I’ve never used another press, but I don’t see myself ever trying anything else either. I don’t have anything against any of the commercial presses out there, but I just don’t feel the need to pay much to make use of free gravity. wink

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Posted: 26 May 2009 10:14 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]
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Welcome Mart!!
i recommend reading as much as u can of the past posts, weight has been discussed allot.

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The Cheese Hole

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Posted: 26 May 2009 10:46 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]
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The weight is of course function of the mould size (area) and cheese weight.
The best I can recommend for a 6-8” mould is:

Carefully place the curds into your cheesecloth lined mold.
Press the cheese at about 20 lbs / 9 kg for 45 minutes.
Remove the cheese from the press and flip it.
Press the cheese at about 40 lbs /18 kg for 3 hours.
Remove the cheese from the press and flip it.
Press the cheese at about 50 lbs / 23 kg for 24 hours.
Remove the cheese from the press.

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Alex-The Cheesepenter

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Posted: 26 May 2009 10:56 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]
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As for the cheese press I truly recommend making a Dutch Cheese Press.
In the attached pic you can see my own made press (also showing a Cheddar disaster) with a capability of multiplying the load by up to 4 in 1/2 increments. In the future I shall add a wheels and cable system to get a total multiplying ability of 12. I shall update, please be patient.

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Posted: 26 May 2009 06:53 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]
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Hi Guys,

Thanks very much for your help - all comments taken on board!

Thanks again,

Martin

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