stainless cheddar molds

[krusty]

Hey gang,

For fun here is a pic of my press. Although it is a screw type, the pressure is pretty consistent overnight. Cheap and easy to make and needs a bit of finishing on it, but as most things....it is functional for now.

I was using a semi soft mold for my cheddar and blew the side out of after 7 or so batches. I find those plastic cheddar molds to be darn expensive so was thinking of using something like this:

http://www.cooksdirect.com/product/carlisle-607908/bain-marie-pots

Bain Marie pot, and from what I have seen of them they would be plenty sturdy enough for higher pressures and would just have to drill some holes myself.

Anyone else use them or other suggestions? I am doing 5 gallon milk batches and think an 8" mold would be perfect.

Krusty,

[Sailor Con Queso]

That's a lot more expensive than a simple plastic tomme mold. If you are blowing out the plastic molds, you are pressing too hard.

[iratherfly]

I agree with Sailor. Also, if you drill it yourself you will lose the anti corrosion coating at the hole profile and it will start rusting at all the holes.  Even if you don't, not all stainless steels are created equally. The repeat flushing of highly acidic whey may not work out unless you have something like 304 stainless.

The plastic should do the job. You can get a heavy duty polypropylene mould like the ones used for Gouda or Manchego. If you send me a private message I can send you some info on those.  I can also get the stainless purpose-built cheddar mould (box shape or cylinder shape). 

[krusty]

Finally got around to getting an 8 qt stainless pot and it was about $30 for 304 stainless and drilled a bunch of holes in it. Probably could have found something cheaper. Re-passivating is not too difficult should rust start to form but will make a cheddar this weekend. Used a cobalt bit to drill the holes and it was very quick on my cheap drill press.

Pricing I had seen for plastic was much higher but I did not search too hard. When you get into 8" diameter they go up considerably.

[Tobiasrer]

Is the bottom flat in those though? I have thought about trying the same, but most pots dont have a flat bottom so...

Best of luck, and succeed or fail remember its about the journey not the destination, or you could just go to the store and buy some cheese lol

[krusty]

The bottom is quite flat. There is a slight radius at the intersection of the bottom and side wall but that should not affect anything. Got about 10 gallons of milk from the cow in the fridge ready to be made into something and tomorrow should be cheddar day.

[krusty]

Here is yesterday's cheddar post pressing. Still need to work on my techniques! I think dipping the muslin in whey each time I re-wrap would help. Still getting a small amount of cheese sticking to the muslin after removing from press.

[bbracken677]

Nice job! Your pressing mold solution is quite creative...may look into something like that myself!

A cheese for you for ingenuity!