Pressing under whey
Posted: 27 December 2010 09:59 AM   [ Ignore ]
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I’m doing another Gouda this morning, and the pressing under whey process is apparently one that I have not yet mastered.  I made a follower to fit down into my pot, but pressing it is a challenge.  the weight continually tends to slip to the side and I have to monitor it quite closely.  Has anyone come up with a more fool-proof system that they would be willing to share???

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Posted: 27 December 2010 11:21 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 1 ]
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The follower slips to the side? making it thicker is the only way so their is less room for play. Thats why I use 2” thing wooden followers so they would move less in the tube and forced down. Buying a proper commercial mold was a dream since the fit was perfect and just had to focus on centering the weight. The molds are allot cheaper then they used to be.

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Posted: 27 December 2010 07:04 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 2 ]
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I wasn’t referring to the follower in the mold - maybe I was not clear enough.  I was talking about the follower, or whatever its called, that goes into the pot of curds and whey in order to press under whey.  I though I had it balanced just right on three different occasions; but when I looked away for a couple minutes I found that it was leaning and about to spill the weight off the top.  As I said, I haven’t mastered this technique just yet.

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Posted: 28 December 2010 11:03 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 3 ]
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A picture is worth a thousand words wink

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Posted: 29 December 2010 10:50 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 4 ]
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Rich,

I’m not sure what type of weight you are using but you really don’t need much weight when pressing under whey.
Becuase of that I use a one gallon milk jug filled with water (approx. 8 lbs.) and that keeps the weight really stable.

I made my pot follower out of a piece of food grade cutting board, cut to the inside diameter of the cheese pot. So far it works really well and I’ve never had a problem with the weight slipping.

Hope this helps.

Dave

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Posted: 30 December 2010 04:48 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 5 ]
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I’ve done the same thing - using a poly cutting board and cutting it to size.  I also added a handle so I could get hold of it to remove it from the whey more easily.  However, I got to thinking, which is sometimes dangerous, that by using 2 liter bottles for weight and setting them directly on the follower, I was defeating my purpose.  The weight of liquid in the bottles would be displaced by the whey around it so that the actual pressing weight was diminished.  I reasoned that the weight would have to be above the level of whey in order to be accurate.  Was I wrong in this assumption???  Anyway, I used my 6” mold on the follower, and set the weight on top of that to keep it out of liquid.  However, when I did this, slipping became a problem.  Since its only a 10 minute press, I’ve had to babysit it every minute in order to keep it upright.  I was hoping there was a better way of doing this.

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Posted: 30 December 2010 09:24 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 6 ]
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Maybe its the center point of the weight u are loading. Look at the “commercial version” the weight is leveled out. The top weight will still need to be level.

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Posted: 30 December 2010 01:18 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 7 ]
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Rich,

If you have too much whey left in the pot then “floating” does become a problem. Because of this I usually drain the whey until it is just over the curd (perhaps 1/2” - 3/4” above) and then there is no floating of the weight that I can see.

Even though the recommendation is to leave 2” of whey above the curd I have not noticed any detrimental effect by removing more.

Dave

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Posted: 30 December 2010 03:22 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 8 ]
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Duh,  now why didn’t I thinkf that?  Sounds pretty logical.  So now I can go back to placing the weight directly on the follower and not have to worry about it.  Many thanks.

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Posted: 18 February 2011 08:42 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 9 ]
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hey guys miss u all

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Posted: 18 February 2011 05:20 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 10 ]
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Been missing you too, Nabil.  What have you been up to???

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Posted: 21 February 2011 05:50 AM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 11 ]
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Green Cheese Maker - 18 February 2011 11:20 PM

Been missing you too, Nabil.  What have you been up to???

following my other hobbies , meat curing and bread making smile

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Posted: 21 February 2011 05:08 PM   [ Ignore ]   [ # 12 ]
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Nice to have edible hobbies, isn’t it?  Mine is gardening.  And, of necessity, remodeling of my house.  Been making some furniture also.

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‹‹ Hi. Back again with a new press.      @ Neil ››