Thank you, everyone!

[lauriecross]

Hey there!  I'm ultra-new to cheesemaking, and have been spending way too much time voraciously searching through and reading everyone's comments.  I want to thank you all so much for taking the time to post - this is an INVALUABLE resource, especially since it's searchable! 
I live in northeastern Illinois, and have been curious about the cheese thing for years.  My husband has been homebrewing beer for a year now, and this just seemed to naturally follow, although it looks like we may now be struggling over refrigerator space and temperatures, thermometers, and the Star-san!
Being quite conservative in my approach to new things (I like to think methodical), I started at square one to learn the techniques (sanitization, maintaining temperatures, etc...) with yogurt, yogurt cheese, and cottage cheese (which surprised me - who would of thought that cottage cheese could be so fabulous?!).  My husband made me a press, and so I graduated to the hard cheeses and made the farmhouse cheddar (skeptical that it would work, and still waiting for it to mature).  Yesterday, my husband made a trip to the homebrewer's store and on a fluke I asked him to see if they carried citric acid.  Of course, I was then concerned that it wouldn't be the SAME as the cheesy citric acid, so fretted a bit about making the 30 minute mozz, but figured all I had to loose was a gallon of milk and 30 minutes!  I was shocked but delighted that it did everything it was supposed to, and today I'm serving it on baguettes with tomatoes and garlic for brunch. 
Anyway, I may not have a lot of input (yet!), but wanted you to know that I'm out there "listening" and learning, and very so much appreciate you all!

[Cheese Head]

Hi Laurie, great introduction, glad to hear that everyone's posts (OK most posts ) have been helpful and great that you have joined us, looking forward to your participation!

FYI to others, Laurie's point about searching is correct, I made a How To FAQ here on it.

[justsocat]

Hi, Laurie!
Nice to meet the one who makes hundred "reads" for each "reply" at every new topic
I want to shift up to 4 gallons from 1 gallon I operate now with and collect ideas for new press. Can I see yours, please?
Hope you'll succeed with your cheddar.

[lauriecross]

Hi Pavel!  My press is only a 2 gallon press.  My husband pretty much copied the 2 gallon press at www.schmidling.com - the cheesy press.  There is a diagram on that site.  He used the strongest spring that he could find at the local hardware store that would fit the press.  The website indicates that that type of spring wouldn't be sufficient, and you'd have to order it from a place like McMaster-Carr, which gets pricey when you include shipping.  That said, we don't know the actual pressure it produces (though I've begun reading the psi info on the forums...), so that's another unknown that I feel uncomfortable with (along with no pH meter - just strips that he uses for beer, and general lack of experience).  To increase the pressure on the farmhouse cheddar, in the final ("50#) pressing, I screwed it down as far as possible, waited 6 hours, and screwed it down as far as possible again, and pressed the last 6 hours, and am keeping my fingers crossed that it'll be close enough. 
My husband used 4" PVC pipe and threaded rod.  Let me know if you'd like a photo - it looks very similar to the cheesy press - and I can add it, once I figure out how to do that!
I tried that farmhouse cheddar today - at just under a month, it was as flavorless as I've read it would be.  However, it seemed very dry and uncreamy, and I'm a tad concerned, but figure I'll cut it into a few pieces and rewax it (thank you to the forums that said I could DO that!) and wait.  I should probably be in a different forum, no?   

[DeejayDebi]

Hello Laurie and welcome aboard! Let me give you a suggestion about the chessy press design - change that pressure rod for something more substantial like a one inch thick threaded bolt or it will drive you will go nuts with lop sided cheeses.

Don't give up on your farmhouse cheddar give it time to mature it will taste better.

[FarmerJd]

Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of us who read and reread these posts all the time. Good luck with your press.

[MrsKK]

Welcome, Laurie!  It's definitely not a hobby for the impatient, unless you can get through the waiting time by making lots of fresh cheeses while you wait for the aged ones to mature.

In my early days, I cut each wheel of cheddar into one half and two quarters and waxed them separately so that I could taste it at one month, six weeks, and two months.  I've been making cheese now for almost two years and have a couple of wheels that have been ageing for almost six months now.  Unfortunately, they had to be in the fridge for the summer months, so it will take a month or more to get any appreciable flavor. 

Keep up the good work.  I look forward to reading more of your experiences.

[lauriecross]

Debi - thank you for the press tip - I'll talk to my husband - my first (and only) pressed cheese DID turn out lop-sided, like you said!  Being a little bit nutty about things being level, I absolutely HAD to trim it, thus losing soem of the cheese...

[Alex]

Wellcome Laurie,

I'll suggest to move to a Dutch Press type instead of upgrading yours. With a spring loaded press you'll never have a constant pressure. As the cheese shrinks the load weakens. For me, a constant pressure is more important than a Ph meter (I don't own one). My cheese turn out really good.

[lauriecross]

Huh.  Of course you're right about the lack of keeping the pressure the same.  I hadn't really put 2 and 2 together (duh), and just assumed that the spring presses did a great job, since I found so many online.  Even with my limited experience, two things I like about my press is that, unlike wood,  it's easy to sanitize and that it's collapsible and I can store it in a very small space.  I wonder how other's feel about the spring vs. weight press???

Thanks for including your press plan!  I really can't justify not using the spring press my husband just spent time and $$$ making for me...  I'll save your plan, though, and maybe I can upgrade!  I do have the weights already, so I think the cost would be minimal, and he used to be a carpenter, so he could easily build it (when he's not brewing ).