As I'm starting to make some harder cheeses such as Cheddar and Romano, and have just bought a larger mould, I needed to modify my homemade press. I thought that a photo and some details might be of interest to someone because, while the use of pulleys is not new, it does not seem to be common.
The original configuration had a 2 to 1 tackle connected to a spring loaded, calibrated scale. The disadvantage of this was that the pressure constantly changed as the cheese compacted, so I removed the spring and the scale.
I also increased the tackle to 4:1 which, together with the mechanical advantage of the lever, allows me to apply some pretty substantial force. (I may even tackle a Cantal.)
The big advantage of this system is that it is very compact. The whole press is less than 40cm long. If it was a simple lever (Dutch) press it would be around 1.6m. I did consider a compound press but the pulley system in much simpler.
- Andrew