Good day all, Tom from Phoenix joining and I have already read some great tips and lots of good information here, thanks very much!
I have only made 5 cheeses so far, 4 attempts at New England Cheese Colby (still waiting for them to age and see my results) and one Farmhouse Cheddar from Artisan Cheese Making at home.  The Farmhouse came out much differant that what is pictured in the book several times where they used Anatto and Chives.  They said to use 7 or 8 inch mold and the press weights are much less than I used from N.E. reciepe??  The cheese obviously came out much larger in diameter and is only about a bit over an inch thick?  Also the curds are not compressed into a nice solid mass.  It looks like I should have used maybe a 4 or 5 inch mold and pressed MUCH more weight to compact it.  I did follow the directions, including heating times, to the letter so I am a bit confused.  Has anyone else had mixed results with this books directions or is it just something I am missing?

Welcome !!

When the curds dont fuse its usually because they were too cold, secondary is the pressure. The only problem with a 1” thick wheel is it will dry out fast unless you coat it in wax to protect it.
When using a wider mold then the weight is more distributed and no longer the “Set” pressure stated. their is a thread about this recalculation from some time ago.

Yeah, we had some lengthy discussions about pressing weight.  I believe the end result was that the important factor is PSI, and not the actual weight.  Neil’s right:  the greater the diameter, the greater the weight necessary to achieve the same results, because the weight is distributed over a larger surface area.