Vat - Debi's Large Chafing Dish

[DeejayDebi]

Hi Bella

I have decided to buy all my stuff from Glengarry Cheese from now on. She ships from NY for US folks so it comes in quick and her prices are really good.

I will never go back to a pot it's such a PITA compared to the chaffing dish. I you have a big sink you could probably just put the chaffing pan in the sink and use tap water to heat or cool you curds. I have a very tiny sink so I can't do it but I do use a beer hose (just a clear food grade hode) to add or siphon water to the chaffing dish warmer or to siphon off the whey to save time.

I got the chaffer warmer pan here:
http://www.kitchensupplydirect.com/370-ECFRWP.html

and the cover here:
http://www.kitchensupplydirect.com/370-STP100LDC.html

and the dish here:
http://www.kitchensupplydirect.com/002-S2008D.html

If I was going to do it again I would just buy the 8" pan right up front. It holds 7 gallons of milk. The 6" deep pan only holds 4.5 gallons of milk.

Although the 6" pan will hold enough baked ziti to feed about 30 people.  All you need to the galric bread and the salad!

[Cheese Head]

Congrats Debi, it does look great!

[DeejayDebi]

I don't know if you can really tell but it takes up almost my whle counter top which is only 24" wide.

The 6" is nice but with Wayne here twisting my arm to do bigger cheeses all the time ... 

[Bella]

Thanks for that Debi
I have just sent an email with pictures from the websites you supplied to a catering supplier here in Australia to see if they can be sourced here. No point for me in buying them from the US as the electrical system is different.

B

[DeejayDebi]

Ah yeah I keep forgetting about that! Good luck hon. I'm sure they have the same type of thing down there.

[wharris]

Deb, don't blame me!!!  I am just lazy.  I want to do less work per/lb of cheese.

[DeejayDebi]

I hear you Wayne! It's getting harder to spend my day off making one tiny wheel of cheese. I have to say though even after using the BIG mold after the initial "WOW that's kewl." I Still put one wheel of cheese down to dry ..."

 

[Tom Turophile]

Those warmers weren't that expensive...sounds easier to control, too...

[DeejayDebi]

I love it. Very easy to control and very easy to drain or cheddar in.

[DeejayDebi]

I spoke with a few people about a quick way to use food grade beer hose to remove water from the chaffing pan for quick heat up rather than waiting for the pan to slowly heat the water. This is real helpful when the milk is still really cold just siphon out the now cold water and add more hot tap water every few minutes until it comes up to temperature. Saves a lot of time!

It's also helpful for adding cold water from the tap to cool the milk after pasteurizing. Siphon out the hot water and add cold.

Once the milk  is up to temperature the chaffing dish will easily hold it without much adjustment. And its really great for cheddaring.

I also use the food grade hose for siphoning out the whey. Just hold it close to the edge to keep from sucking up all the curds and refill the washed empty milk bottles. It only takes about a minute to siphon out a gallon of whey with the 3/8" beer hose. I usually loose less than a tablesppon of curd doing this. I think you can get this hose up to an inch but unless you have a really HUGE vat this is ver flexable and easy to use.

Thanks again Gregore chaffing pan idea!


Here are some photos

[Cheese Head]

Debi, great idea with syphon hose and for storing whey in used milk bottles (for making Ricotta, using in brine etc), especially for large jobs.

FYI, I've been using a ricotta draining mold to drain whey into and bail from, syphon hose will work much better, especially combined with a small draining mold or a small sieve.

PS: We have our hot water heater set to low so that it 1) saves energy and 2) minimizes chance of scalding as many small kids on out street. Thus if I got one of these, the 8" deep/7 US gallons/27 liters size, it would be tough to use tap hot water to heat the milk. The electric chafing dish warmer has only 450 watts, is that enough to heat the milk by itself and if it can, roughly how long, ie 1 hour or 6 hours? I assume with lid on to reduce evaporation heat loss but still has open sides and top for high radient heat losses. Thanks in advance!

[DeejayDebi]

I have my hot water heater pretty low too. I figure if I need to add cold water to cool it down to do dishes I am wasting money. I do add a tiny bit for showers though.

I have done a few thermophilic cheeses with the Chaffer 167 is slow with 7 gallons. but it'll stay within the 2 degree increase per 5 minute rule without cranking it up full.

Where I like to add hot tap water is when it's cold from the store. Sometimes I'll just sit the bottles in the sink for awhile with hot water to warm it up some. I can only fit 4 gallons in my sink at a time though.

From ICE COLD to 86 degrees would take forever I think with the 8" pan and the chaffer.

[wharris]

Temperature control, with any precision, is just not easy to achieve, especially if you have larger quantities of liquid.


Good Luck.

[sominus]

I've been looking at getting a Wyott drop-in countertop food warmer (I think someone else on the site has also gotten one)...

As for the siphoning of whey, those drill-operated siphon pumps combined with the ricotta basket seems like it would be just the right thing, no?

-Michael
Obvious cheese-making newbie.

[DeejayDebi]

I guess if you are siphoning 50 gallons it would be okay. Using just the 3/8 tube I fill 1 gallon about every minute maybe less. If I had bigger hose it might be hard to keep from sucking curds in. I keep the end presed into the side of the pan and get very few curds.