Author Topic: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press  (Read 23945 times)

Offline Cartierusm

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #15 on: January 04, 2009, 04:08:51 AM »
You can buy the cutting board material at Tap Plastics, you should have one local, for real cheap, they can even cut a circle for you.

Erin

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #16 on: January 04, 2009, 04:31:54 PM »
Guess I will forget the idea of buying a piece of stainless steel. I do not have the equipment or experience to work with it. So, back to finding something out of some kind of plastic.

How important is it for the bottom to be removable?  I have two prospects and they are both clear plastic, one an ice tea pitcher (7.5 inch dia.) and the other a food storage container (5 inch dia.), both with bottoms. Do I really want to cut the bottom off?  Or just drill some holes in the bottom along with the sides for the drainage of the whey?  I could have the bottom sitting on an "x" made of wood, for better drainage.

Cheese Head

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #17 on: January 04, 2009, 06:34:13 PM »
If your mold is for pressing cheese, then it should still work, you basically have to turn the curds after the first light pressing and repeat. It's easier if the mold is vertical, ie not bevelled, but if it's a small amount of bevel you should be OK.

If your mold is for soft cheese then any reasonable shape should work.

If this is your first cheese and you are going for a pressed age cheese then you will be diving in at the deep end, there is a Sticky Post here for people new to cheese making.

Likesspace

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #18 on: January 05, 2009, 01:40:36 AM »
Hi guys,
Ummmm......I manage an oilfield/plumbing supply store for a living and I do know something about PVC pipe.
PVC is poly vinyl chloride. It really doesn't matter if it is DWV(drain waste vent) or PW (potable water) the material used in the making of the pipe is the same.
DWV is a type of pipe that will not handle the pressure that is normally found on potable water although many of the pipes we sell are dual rated.
What dual rated means is that the DWV pipe can be used for pressure pipe as long as pressure fittings are used (deeper sockets). The pipe itself is the same as the pressure pipe but it does not have the belled ends associated with "water pipe".
Many times we will sell the DWV because first of all it can be bought in 10' lengths (as opposed to 20' lengths for pressure) and because it is somewhat less expensive since it does not have the belled ends.
Even the cellular core DWV pipe (which is a solid inner core, solid outer core with a pvc "foam" type of material sandwiched in between) is still 100% poly vinyl chloride. In short, PVC is PVC.
Even the thin wall PVC is the same material although I have never used the SDR35 pipe which is a light blueish green color. I've never done any checking on this product so I can't say that it is 100% PVC.
For my Camembert molds I use the thin wall D&S pipe (D&S stands for drain and sewer). This is very common in nearly every hardware store. I cut the pipe in 8" lengths and then drilled several holes in the side. Works perfectly.
While researching Camembert I came across a website that was something like "the cheeseman.com" and he actually sells camembert molds that are made out of this 4" D&S pipe. Of course the site didn't actually say this (it did describe them as PVC molds) but I recognized the pipe right away.
I've also used 6" thin walled pvc caps as a mold which also works really well for up to 2 gallons. These are the caps with flat bottoms and after holes are drilled in the bottom they work really well (Cresline part number SF70).
I also use lengths of 4" PVC pipe for my Stilton molds but plan on jumping up to 6" or 8" if my current logs turn out well.
I was leary about using PVC as a mold until I read that the USDA does approve PVC for home cheese making use. It is not allowed in commerical applications though.
The problem is that PVC usually has to be purchased in either a 10' or 20' length.
Locally we have a Rural King supply that will sell by the foot and also a mom and pop hardware store that will do the same. The problem is that most hardware type stores only sell in sizes up to 4" diameter.
We currently stock up to 12" diameter PVC (white schedule 40) and up to 15" SDR35 (greenish blue color) but my company only sells this pipe in full joints. This sort of sucks since I would like to move up to a piece of 6" or 8" for my Stiltons.
I'm going to check with some of our plumbers and well drillers and see if they have any stub pieces left over from a job.
I know that Cartier is looking for something in the 8" - 12" range and I've already planned on contacting him if I can come up with something. Hopefully I'll be able to find a couple of pieces for each of us to use.
I hope this information helps those who are looking for something to use as a mold material.

Dave

Offline Cartierusm

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #19 on: January 05, 2009, 07:33:51 PM »
Dave, very true, but at my pumbing wholesaler there are grades that are not water safe, so I'd just buy the real stuff as it's not that expensive in cut lengths, when you find it.

Offline Cartierusm

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #20 on: January 05, 2009, 11:19:17 PM »
I was just at a huge plumbing supply store where I got my PVC, see other post in for sale section, and they had SDR-35 and they told me it has lead in it and unless it's Potable Water Safe not to use it. I mean if you think about it it if PVC was PVC then they would save a ton of money on one machine and just make one kind of PVC and not have different grades.

Likesspace

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #21 on: January 06, 2009, 02:58:50 AM »
Cartier.....
As I said previously, I have not done any research on SDR35. I should because it's my business to know what is and is not in it.
I have on the other hand done a lot of research on PVC and have been assured by our manufacturer (Cresline) that all of their PVC pipe is made from the same basic material.
I can't speak for other manufacturers but according to our rep the potable water pipe and the DWV pipe (as well as the D&S) is made from the same material.
Each person will have to decide for his or her self if they feel this is a safe material to use in cheese making. Personally I don' t have a problem with it, but if it's like everything else...in 10 years or so we'll find out that it can cause about every health problem imaginable.  ;)
On the other board I frequent, there are a few people who are adamantly opposed to using even the potable water PVC as a cheese mold. They are convinced that it will leach out into the cheese causing all sorts of health related problems.
Of course neither I, nor anyone else can say with total assurance that this is a safe product to use in the long term. All I'm doing is giving my opinion that I feel it is safe and I'm not worried about using it personally.
Just my two cents.

Dave

Offline Cartierusm

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #22 on: January 06, 2009, 05:24:56 AM »
I have very sensitive taste buds and sense of smell I would know if it's leaching anything as far as smell or taste and it's not. But that's for PVC. In this area, SF, most DWV is not PVC but ABS plastic, which I wouldn't touch with a ten foot curd knife, as far as a mold.

Likesspace

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #23 on: January 06, 2009, 05:52:05 PM »
Okay, you got me there....
I forgot all about ABS being used in certain parts of the country/world. We stopped using ABS plastic around here in the 70's due to warpage in the sunlight and heat.
Good advice. If anyone does only have access to ABS DWV then by all means, don't use it.
All of our DWV, D&S, Cellular Core and PW pipe is white.
Sorry for the confusion.

Dave

makkonen

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #24 on: March 31, 2009, 05:55:43 AM »
Well, dang.

I told my father a few weeks ago that I needed some lengths of 6" and 8" PVC pipe for cheese molds. And since he knew some people working on a construction site, he managed to magically procure me some beautiful lengths of each. Unfortunately, they're both SDR-26.

So now I have to figure out if these things are going to kill me. And what the heck makes them green.

Anyone have advice on where I might find some solid information on this? Preliminary googling has not revealed anything useful.

Likesspace

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Re: DaggerDoggie's Homemade Cheese Press
« Reply #25 on: April 01, 2009, 12:31:10 AM »
Makkonen...
I would recommend contacting a manufacturer of PVC pipe.
A few names that come to mind are Cresline, JetStream, Eagle, Charlotte and Nibco.
I would recommend contacting Cresline first since I do deal with them quite a lot and they are good people.
Their phone number is: (812) 428-9350.
I would recommend asking for their technical service department or to speak to Jeff Alger which is the sales manager.
If he doesn't have the answers he can and will find them out for you.
Hope this helps.

Dave