Green Cheese Maker,

I have a question for you because I know that you use the white pvc for cheese forms.  Let me tell you a story to explain my question.

I purchased a 4” and 6” schedule 80 white PVC and drilled holes in both for cheese forms as my 7.25 Tomme mold makes my wheels of cheese too thin.  Last weekend I made a Caerphilly and used the 4” form.  I had my wife make a muslin sock to fit the form.  The problem that I ran into was when flipping the cheese and redressing.  I had the most difficult time putting it back into the form.  The final 4” of cheese just would not go, so I had to really manhandle it to get it back into the form.  Lost a lot of milk fats in doing so.

Last night I made a Pyrenees and used the 6” form with the same result.  I ended up switching to the Tomme mold because I could not get the cheese back into the form.  What is your secret to using the PVC molds?

I am thinking about just flipping the molds over and allowing the cheese to remain un-redressed.  The press would force the cheese to the bottom of the flipped mold with minimal cheese trauma.  What do you think?  How do you do it?

Thanks GCM

9mmruger - 13 August 2010 10:41 AM

I am thinking about just flipping the molds over and allowing the cheese to remain un-redressed.  The press would force the cheese to the bottom of the flipped mold with minimal cheese trauma.  What do you think?  How do you do it?

I don’t bother with cheese cloths at all.
I made up two followers per mould. Drain the curds well, add the bottom follower and fill the mould, then add another follower, then press.
After the first press, flip the mould complete with the bottom follower and repress without taking the curd out of the mould. I do occasionally dry the bottom follower before repressing.
If you have drilled the followers, then cover each one with cheese cloth before pressing, gets rid of the dimples.
This works a treat, gets a good meld every time.

How do you keep the cheese from coming out the holes in the PVC, or did you not drill holes?

Personally, I have never used a mold with holes in it.  I use a cloth for the initial presses but no cloth for the final press.  The only time I have trouble getting the flipped cheese back into the mold is with the first and sometimes the second press.  At these stages, the wheel is still soft enough to squeeze like play dough and slide back into the mold.  If you use a cloth but don’t redress between presses, I’m thinking it would form wrinkles as the mass in constricted.  In my humble opinion, the right way to do it is what works for you, so try several different options and go with the one that works.

9mmruger - 13 August 2010 12:03 PM

How do you keep the cheese from coming out the holes in the PVC, or did you not drill holes?

I have lines of tiny holes drilled from top to bottom of the mould. Plus I also drilled both followers.
When pressing I place the bottom follower and the mould across two strips of wood, creating a space for the whey to drip down into. This allows the bottom of the mould to drain faster.
I have never had the curds squishing out the holes.