In one of member DeejayDebi's posts I noticed that she mentioned that she had accidentally ordered four rather than two 1.5-2 kg Gouda Shaped Kadova molds and asked member Wayne if he wanted to buy them off her.
I immediately asked Debi that If Wayne doesn't go for them then I'd take them, lucky me, he went for his huge stainless steel mold for his monster cheddar and I was lucky second, pictures below. I just put one into
service yesterday.
There is another thread on
Kadova Brand molds started by Wayne when he first got 1.0 kg Kadova Molds, it has some great info on volumes etc but got off track so this new thread.
First impressions are great, just simplifies pressed cheese type's making stage vs my old self made cheesecloth, PVC hoops, and cut cutting board base and follower. Simplifies as just dump curds in and press, no pulling of cheese cloth, easier to turn during pressing, no square shoulder edge from my old cylindrical shaped pressed cheeses so probably better for waxing or natural rinds, and I put the parts into the dishwasher for simple cleaning. They didn't come with any guide from where Debi bought them and I can't find anything on the manufacturers website, thus this topic.
MANUFACTURER INFO- Kadova brand molds are made by Dutch Sonoco Crellin BV, a subsidiary of New York based Sonoco Products Co. I couldn't find any info on Sonoco Products website on Kadova Molds but if you enter Sonoco Crellin's website and go to Products > Kadova Cheesemolds, they have two skimpy web pages, using their search function crashed for me.
- Some info from this supplier on dimensions of them.
VOLUMES- They come mostly in Gouda shapes from small 0.5 kg cheese up to 16 kg.
- Wayne says with his 1.0 kg molds you can get them up to their rated amount of cheese, but have to squish first curds down then add more to completely fill it.
- My first use of one of my 1.5-2 kg molds before pressing is with 4 US gallons (15.2 liters) of whole milk, which resulted in a 1.86 kg/4.09 pound Havarti (after brining), so looks like should fit rated 2kg without too much trouble, maybe even a little more.
USING- Easy to press down, top of follower is round ring so need something flat to go against it otherwise will leave a dent mark in the plastic.
- Debi says that if you turn cheese often in early part of pressing then you will be able to avoid ridge from follower, (I wasn't able to do that, so far).
- Weep holes in follower, work, but then whey drains down side and back onto side of cheese where presumably drain out via mesh.
- Very easy to turn cheese as mesh is flexible and thus easy to remove and hold cheese.
- As Wayne says they, appear to be stackable, but then whey from molds above will all have to flow down through lower molds.
CLEANING- I found no cheese stuck to liner or follower liner thus I just put in dishwasher to clean.
Anyone have more information, best practices, tips and traps?
