Pressing

[Dorchestercheese]

So I have been making two gallon batches of cheese each go around which fit into a press well.  I'm thinking of doubling the batch to make two cheeses at once.  I feel I'm standing there stirring ...
Any good ideas for pressing two blocks at once?  Can I stack them? Just looking for food for thought.

[Chetty]

If you can stack them that would be the most efficient because you would only need the same amount of pressure you put on a single mold.  If you do it side by side you will have to make sure they are filled the same and you'll have to double the weight.  Is there a possibility of getting a larger mold, in most cases cheese ages better in bigger wheels.  I made some fair sized molds out of five gallon buckets but that would be way big for 4 gallon batches but it's an idea. 

The molds I made are in the background in the picture. 

[5ittingduck]

I'm going through this process right now.
So far I have been using 165mm Camembert baskets which stack quite nicely and make 4 700g Goudas from a 20l batch.  I was dead weight pressing and as i stacked in pairs I was getting a light press.
I also used 3kg food buckets drilled to drain, which gives me 2 cheeses. Stacked under the press, the sloped bucket sides often give me wonky cheeses.
I can, just, fit curd from a low yield recipe like Romano into one bucket.
I am coming to understand that bigger cheeses work better in the press, but they cause a storage problem for me, as I like to vacuum bag mine.
My next task is to try and rig a brace to stop a stack of smaller moulds from toppling or twisting under higher pressure.
Stacking works, but aesthetics will vary.
Best results so far come from single cheeses.
Size of cheese can be a storage issue.

[FooKayaks2]

5ittingduck you could consider getting larger vacuum bags for chesses, i use some that i can fit in a 20cm x 15cm cheese. they are the width of my vacuum bagger machine.

Mathew

[panamamike]

Mathew,  What brand and model vacuum machine do you have?

[Dorchestercheese]

Thanks everyone