Hoop - XL For Cheddar?

[FarmerJd]

Thanks. i guess i will try drilling a few holes and see if it helps. Any suggestions on what size holes?

[DeejayDebi]

Very small holes the smaller the better.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Wrap your follower in a layer or 2 or 3 of cheesecloth to make it a tighter fit. Fold back the cloth in your mold, so the wrapped follower makes direct contact with the top of the cheese. This will eliminate seepage around the follower.

[wharris]

I would use a 1/8th inch or a tad smaller bit when drilling.

[Tropit]

Ahh...I'm sorry.  I just posted about using the food grade buckets on another topic.  I didn't see this post.  I apologize for being redundant.

I was also thinking...if you don't want such a wide diameter of cheese, you can always get out the Sawzall and cut around the bucket to create curved bands that could be used for an adjustable diam. hoop.  You could make a follower out of the bottom of the bucket.

[Baby Chee]

I just found my heaven.

Sailor Con Queso and other large experimenters might be interested...

That's the Bain Marie I ordered recently.  Used a cobalt drill tip on the bottom and it went WONDERFUL!  Then it melted....and I got another out and THAT melted.  WTF!  It was on one spot of the bottom, so I think some imperfection is there which melted the bits.  Before that one location, everything drilled fast and fine!!  I have one bit left and I have to do the sides.  -_-; We'll see how it goes.

Then I began making my fulcrum press from $20 of materials.  Just lumber, a few screws, 4 bolts (still to be installed), and a foot square paver stone.  It's an hour from complete, but I need one more 2x4 for a side support connecting the cross back and the base in a triangle.

The whole set up breaks down to three flat pieces!  So I can pack it up against a wall somewhere and not have a 6' x 2' x 3' wooden monstrosity hanging around.  We'll see how it goes.  I also need a length of pipe on which to place weights.

Entire set up including bits: $80

Then I have to make a follower, which is a 9"+ piece of wood.  Not expensive or difficult to make.  There you are. This will give me 5 to 7 times the pressing power of my weights: I'll tell you precisely when I finish and have everything lined up.  So if I get 100lbs. on there I can have perhaps 700lbs. pushing the cheese and giving me better psi than I currently achieve on a smaller mold.  I can also do 30 gallon cheeses when this is complete!  woo! Gouda and Cheddar are my plans, but maybe Swiss, Havarti, and others.

[FarmerJd]

Ignore my post on the other thread. I just saw this one, Babychee. Wow, now you are talking! How wide across is the pot? 10 inches? This is a great idea being able to take it apart quickly and store it. I love the paver stone idea! built in grooves! Great! I am sure you know but remember that the closer the plunger is to the cross back the greater mechanical advantage. With a 10 inch pot you should be able to get it as close as 6 inches and still hit the middle of the pot. This means that with an 8 foot arm you would have a mechanical advantage of 16. And don't forget the weight of the arm too. It is equivalent to the whole arm weight (Just the boards) times half the mechanical advantage at the end. Just a thought that I pondered on when I was designing mine. Really great post!

[Baby Chee]

Hey Farmer, you are enthused!

I didn't factor in the weight of the boards.  They are just 6' 2x4s since 8' boards will be too big to prop up a wall in my house.  I'll drill the hole for the plunger last, when I figure out the placement of the pot.  The only problem is the draining--gotta mop it up.  I wish I could get a foot square slab of granite or marble with a grove for draining sideways into a bowl.  That's a future item, because that paver can be slid out in a second.
The BMPot is 9.25" diameter: I haven't measured it properly yet, but have to soon when I make the wood follower.  It is almost 11" tall.  I figured I could do 30 gallons in there, at least 20 I hope.

[FarmerJd]

You can definitely do 20 and maybe 30 if you are doing cheddar but I doubt it with Gouda. The problem is not the finished size but the volume before pressing. You just can't get all the loose curd into the pot without it overflowing. You might could get it started with most of the curds and then add the rest but it probably would not be good for knitting. My 10 inch is 14 inches tall and I have about 3 inches left when doing 24 gallons so figure from there. Along your arm you could make different holes for your plunger and move it for bigger or smaller hoops. With six inches from the bolt to the plunger you still have an MA of 12.

How about running a 1/2 inch bead of silicone or even poly foam or even concrete around the top of the edge of the paver and into the grooves except for the outlet grooves. Just an idea. How big is that paver? 1 foot square? Do you have a router with a bowl bit. I may have something I can send ya.

[Baby Chee]

Ah, so 20 definite, but 25 gallons and up gets speculative.  What I could do is press some curds and load in more, but I am not sure how they will knit.

The idea of a buffer at the edges is good!  I could just use caulk and make a small wall around the edges.

I have the idea I will have about 8" from pivot to plunger, and maybe 60" to the weights, so 7.5x.  Could be more.  I'm not approaching it with an extremely precise idea of what I am getting.  If I can get 5x, I'm fine, but more is always better.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Pressing under whey will expel some whey in the curds and reduce the volume. You can also split the curds in half and do the first press light on 2 molds at once, then combine the two.

With a fulcrum that long, you could have 2 ramrods pressing 2 molds. Seen lots of old photos like this.

Baby - FYI - you will have 2 different mechanical advantages and 2 different PSIs if you use 2 ramrods.

[Baby Chee]

That gets very complex.  I started to wonder about side-by-side, which isn't very hard to do with a little support on the edges of the platform.  I'll see how it goes with a 25 gallon gouda in mid-November.

Tomorrow I'll finish this press and try to make the follower.

[FarmerJd]

You don't want to do it with 2 fulcrums. the physics is a nightmare not to mention impossible to get them to evenly carry the weight. I would have to see one to know it would work. with side by side though it would work great. Just divide the total weight by the sum of the areas but stacked would be even better with no loss in pressure.

[wharris]

If you lay out the moulds side by side, you double the follower surface area (Assuming same size cheese), and halve the PSI.

If you stack them,  it remains the same.


(right?)

[Baby Chee]

It's good to know the physics.  I was in Civil Engineering in college but dropped out to pursue other careers... thank god. 
All that PHIZZIKS stuff was lost to me a long time ago.  I understand it, just never think of it or practice it.

Here's the (almost) finished item:

It is 9" between rear joint and plunger joint, then 57" from plunger joint to the center of the weight bar.
That's about 6x pressure.
Farmer was right, though: coulda worked it to get 7 or more, but I wasn't going for the max, just getting it done.
6x is excellent.
I can hang a lot of weight off the end there to get me over 5psi easy on 25 gallon cheeses.
And I could get larger pots to do the deed for 45 gallon cheeses done in three pots.

I am short a $1.50 2x4 for the other side support.  It all breaks down to a convenient, fold-against-walls, form:


I have to also make a follower at 8.75 inches. 
The inside of the Bain is 9" even, and I want the room around it to let the whey out.
About drainage... I was thinking today of just putting a large pot or bucket around the Bain-Mold to catch all the whey. 
SO SIMPLE! 
Maybe even a high walled cookie pan will do or plastic box, etc.
Heck, a plastic bag strung up to the arm will work as well.
Or I can caulk the block or get a nicer replacement block.

Anyway, there you go.
A $20 press that collapses to the sides of a garage or store room.