Author Topic: Cheese density  (Read 9353 times)

FarmerJd

  • Guest
Cheese density
« on: October 11, 2009, 08:59:37 PM »
i have been reading a lot of old articles and posts on here and am a little puzzled about the sizes of the wheels compared to the weights. I use 20+ gallons in every recipe and always end up with a 12-18 lb cheese that is either 8" in diameter and 5-8 inches high or 12" in diameter and 3-5 inches high. (I am only referring to cheddar because the one colby I made was way bigger but it was full of whey and a real disaster.) I have looked at pics of other cheddars here, and alot of folks are producing 7 to 8" cheeses that weigh only 3-4 pounds. Are my cheeses too dense? What should a 8" across, and 6" deep cheddar  weigh? Or an even better question: how many pounds of cheddar should a gallon of milk produce if the solids are somewhat average? Hope someone knows.

MPOLOBEAR

  • Guest
Re: Cheese density
« Reply #1 on: October 13, 2009, 08:19:14 AM »
You are right on target.  A good rule of thumb for cheddar yield is 10%.  You are using 20 gallons, or 172 lbs. of milk.  You should yield around 17.2 lbs. of cheese.

FarmerJd

  • Guest
Re: Cheese density
« Reply #2 on: October 13, 2009, 11:57:18 AM »
Thank you for the input mpolobear. Welcome to the forum!

MrsKK

  • Guest
Re: Cheese density
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2009, 12:09:00 PM »
I usually get about 3/4 of a lb of cheddar per gallon of whole, raw milk, so I think you are right on target, too.

I'd love to see pics of your set up for such huge batches of cheesemaking, if you'd like to share.

FarmerJd

  • Guest
Re: Cheese density
« Reply #4 on: October 13, 2009, 12:34:42 PM »
I posted some here http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2246.0.html and in my introduction here http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2205.0.html

I hardly ever buy anything so it looks like something off of junkyard wars.

MrsKK

  • Guest
Re: Cheese density
« Reply #5 on: October 14, 2009, 11:30:49 AM »
Great photos - thanks for posting the links, as I somehow missed them earlier.  Not "junkyard wars" - it's just farmer ingenuity.  Recycling before it became a fad with the rest of the world.

Tea

  • Guest
Re: Cheese density
« Reply #6 on: October 14, 2009, 08:30:20 PM »
Yes great photo's.  Somehow I missed all that.  Congrats on the 10 kids too. I only have 8, which seems to cause most people to faint when they find out.

Anyway really great set up you have there.  You should be proud of it.

FarmerJd

  • Guest
Re: Cheese density
« Reply #7 on: October 14, 2009, 09:44:46 PM »
i was named after my great grandfather who also had 10 - 6 boys and 4 girls just like me. Kind of freaky to have exactly the same name and family; I even named my boys after his sons, too. I am the grandson of his 10th so for me to argue against having ten kids is to argue against my existence. ???;D

Tea

  • Guest
Re: Cheese density
« Reply #8 on: October 15, 2009, 08:28:03 PM »
Well at least your family is used to large families.  No one can whinge to you about having lots of kids.