Has anyone tried a spring form cake pan as a mould in producing a wheel of cheese, and how did it work out for you?

LOL, thats what i use for my cheeses, if u look at my website u can see the pics. Works great

and also u can get one, non metal (to avoid rust)

Neil, went to your site to see the spring form pan in action. It appears that you are using the pan bottom for your follower in the press? What is the bottom of the pan resting on?
It looks to be on a flat surface, and if so, how does the whey get expelled from the pressing process if there are no holes drilled along the pan edge to allow for this?
Another question regarding the use of the pans concerns the final size. As you know, those pans are generally 3 inches in height, which is a nice finished cheese size. How are you packing your curd into the pan to arrive at something close to this dimension without ending up with something 9 inches in diameter by 1 inch thick due to the pressing process? By tamping the curd into the pan perhaps?

Can you make a general statement in regards to the compression factor? Would it be fair to say that you lose 25% or 50% or 70% from the starting height to the finished press height? I like the spring form pan idea, but I wouldn’t want to end up with something that resembles a waffle rather than a nice thick wheel!

Since my wife works in a bar/restaurant, I come by the white food grade plastic pickle pails very easy. I was thinking of cutting a couple of 5 inch wide section out of the center. I would then cut these plastic rings so that I end up with an adjustable size ring / hoop to be my mould. I think I could just then control the final diameter of the ring to the curd amount by using a nylon tie-down strap around the outside.

The pan is resting on a 2x12 and hanging over the sink. The whey expels very easily from the edges since theirs no tight seal on the wood. I add the curds to the cloth inside the ring and wait for it to drain naturally and then keep adding to it over a couple of hours pending type of cheese. Not difficult to pile it up 6 inches and fold the cheese cloth over it as it compresses and readjust the cloth on top.
The amount of whey loss pends on what type of cheese your making and how much it is cooked and whats left. making the Camembert is more a waiting process since it has the most moisture content, so I may wait 4 hours before I add light pressure to form it. so it can vary from 25-75% of compression.I end up with a thickness 2-2.5” with the spring form. other containers I use are from protein powders and cut off the top.
Hope this helps

Yup, makes sense and helps alot!

Neil-

What are you using for a follower for the protein containers?

-Carl

Wooden plugs That are cut out from 2x12, pics on my website. Used the form to trace out the circle then cut with jigsaw.