Hoop - XL For Cheddar?

[FarmerJd]

Wayne you are exactly right.  That was what I was trying to say but didn't get it out right.

Baby chee, The mech advantage is calculated by measuring the full distance from weight to fulcrum and dividing by the distance from plunger to fulcrum. I am not sure but I think you figured it wrong. It should be 57+9 = 66 and then 66/9 = 7.3. Not a big deal unless you are grading papers.

The idea of placing the whole thing in a pot is a sweet idea. I may try that even with my open bottom hoops.

I would not make the follower any smaller than needed. I made them fit as close as possible because the curd will push up around the top every time. And besides the whey is going to get out if there is any kind of crack at all.

Civil engineering? Me too! I was 2 quarters from graduating and switched to a straight math and physics degree. I finished all the hard stuff but went to a company with a zillion floors and all those cubicles for some hands on experience during the last summer and said 'no way". I still love the physics though. I use it almost everyday.

[Baby Chee]

ooOOoh, I thought it was distance from weights to plunger/distance from plunger to fulcrum.  WELL.  That's even BETTER.  7x is darn good.  I can get 100 lbs. on there and do 730 on the cheese, which gives 11 psi!  @_@  Excellent.  I can do those tight, crumbly cheddars.  If I want.  I don't mind soft cheese one bit.

My college career was forced on me by my parents.  They shoved me into Civ. Eng., which wasn't what I had in mind, but I was only 17 in my first year and really had very little in my mind.  So I dropped out after first year and went into comic and illustration art, became an animation director, and blah blah.  Drew for a living for 10+ years.  So it was a drastic change from maths to arts, and thus no need for physics for decades.  I'm not afraid of math, I'm just disgusted by it, since I'm divorced from it over the time divide.

[DeejayDebi]

Chee that is an awsome design! I really love it.Well done!

[Baby Chee]

Thanks.  I know it's nothing I can display in my front room, but I just wanted it to get the job done, be economical, and easy to store out of the way.  And it does all that (I hope: I haven't used it yet).

EDIT:  If anyone thinks of buying those Bain Maries, keep in mind that while ss and sturdy thickness for most cheese work, they do taper very slightly.  My neighbor just made me an 8.75" follower which fits into the 9" top hole and gets stuck tight about 2/3 of the way to the bottom.  It reduces about 3/8" over the 11" drop.

Hopefully a cheese cloth covered curd mass won't seep around the follower very much.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Most hoops taper somewhat. Makes it really important to match the right volume of curds to the mold.

[Baby Chee]

Ture, I forgot my old cheese mold does taper in the bottom 1/4 or 1/3rd as well.

Can't wait to take this baby on a spin!!  woo!  I'd like to get 50 gallons of milk from Sam's right now and do it, but I gotta do other things first.