Pressing Weight/Pressure -Gouda & Others

[cath s]

Gouda newbie here..
It appears that there are HUGE variations in pressing weight between recipe to recipe???

The Gouda recipe on this website has quite light weights compared to say Ricki Carrolls

I work solely in kg
The recipe here for 2 US Gallons of milk
is 2kg for 15 mins
6kg for 1 hour
11kg overnight (8-16 hours)

Ricki Carrolls is
9kg for 20 mins
13.5kg for 20mins
22.5kg overnight (12-16 hours)

Why such a huge variation?  Both are based on 2 US gallons of milk.

I have made cheese with both weights and the lighter pressing is a disaster!!!

[DeejayDebi]

A lot depends on the way it's made and we each have slightly different techniques and pressing styles. I always press lighter but longer. Start low and add weight as the cheese demands. If you add to much weight in the begining you can actually trap the whey between the curds and as it ages and dries out it leaves holes. As strange as this may sounds ... let you cheese talk to you. you can see when it's ready for more weight.

[cath s]

thks for the hint re weights Debi. 

The last gouda I made is the closest to starting to look/taste right at its infancy... but alas the pressing weight was far too light and I fear it will be a disaster like the other two I sampled earlier on today.  Previous to that I had used higher pressing weights.

Can you tell me why the two recipes above have such diff weights?  The time frames are somewhat similiar. 

[DeejayDebi]

Like I said eariler different people have different pressing schedules. What was the temperature of your curds when you pressed them? Maybe they were too cold maybe? I have a hard time which my curds chilling realy fast in the winter. My kitchen is only about 65F degrees and the whey chills so fast. I try to keep my molds in a bucket to hold the heat in somewhat while I load the curds in the winter.  I forget where you are from.

[zenith1]

Deb-we are going to start calling you "the cheese whisperer". I have to agree with you, the curd temp seems to be very important, at least as important as the amount of initial pressure used. All in favor of Deb's new user name give me a who-ahh!

[DeejayDebi]

   Well it's like most anything else it has it's ways of telling you when it's time. I think tasting is impotant. You may not feel a soft mushy curd but you will definately taste it. When it taste like cheese it is cheese.

Now I will admit I haven't figure this out for the soft mold ripen cheese they are just all fluff but it works for the pressed cheeses.

[cath s]

cheers, the only diff in my recipe was I altered the pressing weights.

the diff between the 2 pressing weights is at least half.

nevermind....  I will just increase my weight again and not use the weights listed here.  Coz up until then my cheese WAS tasting nice. yes it was....
I just wondered why there is such a diff.  50% increase/decrease is big.

Thks anyways

[Likesspace]

Cath....
I have started pressing Gouda as follows:
I start with 2 p.s.i. on the wheel and then move on to 4 p.s.i. for the final press.
I've found that this will leave you with a nice closed curd at the end of the pressing.
The reason that I've switched to using p.s.i. is because this is a constant no matter what size of mold you are using. Although the weight applied will be different for a 4" mold than an 8" mold the p.s.i. stays the same.
If this is not a method you are familiar with simply do a search on p.s.i.. I'm sure you will find many posts on this subject.
If you still have questions I will do my best to answer them.
Good luck in your cheese making endeavors.
Dave

[cath s]

cheers Dave,
I have actually downloaded a spreadsheet from here regarding psi coz it makes definite sense..
And I saw it in action here when I was mucking around with diff molds..
I just need to get my head around it...
some of my molds are rectangles...
Thks for that,
I will grab the spreadsheet and try to work it out...
Of course I have to convert everything over to kgs/grams and inches to cm and stuff *sigh*, but thats OK.

[FarmerJd]

cath s, if you need help with the rectangular mold numbers let us know.


Dave, I came to the same conclusion regarding gouda psi. 2 for initial and 4 for the final press.

[Alex]

cheers Dave,
I have actually downloaded a spreadsheet from here regarding psi coz it makes definite sense..
And I saw it in action here when I was mucking around with diff molds..
I just need to get my head around it...
some of my molds are rectangles...
Thks for that,
I will grab the spreadsheet and try to work it out...
Of course I have to convert everything over to kgs/grams and inches to cm and stuff *sigh*, but thats OK.

Although I don't like Ricky's way of cheese making, from the two examles of pressing weights you mentioned, I'd go with her's (only this time  )
Rectangular moulds - easier to calculate area: length x width

To convert psi to km/sq-cm:

1 pound-force/square inch (PSI) = 0.070307 kilogram-force/square centimeter

[cath s]

thks alot Alex and FarmerJD...
With working out the PSI on the molds, heightXwidth

what height do you use???  maybe it sounds like a stoopid question   .  Do you use the height of the mold or the height of the curd that sits in the mold before pressing???
All of my molds are homemade jobs, I have various sizes.

And one more question 
How do you work out height/width on a ROUND mold??  What about a heart shaped one?

Thnks for taking the time to help me...
I love/adore making cheese and the help here is invaluable to me.

[FarmerJd]

To calculate psi you must know the area of the surface and the weight pressing down on it. If it is a round hoop then you use the circle area formula (3,14 x radius x radius) to find the area and then divide the weight by that.
For example:
4 in round hoop with 30 lbs on it:
radius = 2 in
Area = 2 x 2 x 3.14 = 12.56 square inches
Pressure = weight / area = 30/12.56 = 2.39 psi or pounds per square inch


With a rectangular hoop you figure the width and length of the part in contact with the follower. The height (from the top of the curds to the bottom) is not a factor and it changes any way as the cheese compresses.
For example:
4 inch by 6 inch hoop of any height with 30 lbs on it
Area= 4 x 6 = 24 square inches
Pressure =weight / area = 30/ 24 = 1.25 psi


A heart shaped mold requires calculus.   I would estimate it and I am sure you'll be close enough. I hope that helps.

[cath s]

oh thanks so much for this!!!!
I have had the downloaded spreadsheet on PSI for aages but didnt entirely understand the whole thing.
Now I do!
I am going to grab some milk from our cowshed this afternoon and make some cheese....
 
I have more confidence in the weights now... and boy was I using some very light weights...
The 'lightweights' have been frozen to be used as grating cheese.



perhaps one more question........

with regard to height of the curd in your mold, I use pipes and things, what would be the highest height of cheese you would use???
It probably sounds odd, but you dont want a 'tube' of cheese, or even a 'square' I would think.

Is there a certain 'height' formula one should never go over?
I hope I have explained it properly...  I just want to make sure with my homemade molds I am not overfilling the mold coz my heights may be waaay higher than the purchased ones.

[FarmerJd]

To be honest, I have tinkered with the idea of making my cheeses in hoops that were 7 inches round and as tall as I need them. My purpose was to make a tube of cheese that I could vacuum seal in my 11 inch bags. One day maybe I'll try it. I use pipe myself; the only limiting factor is your pressing setup. It really doesn't matter about the height.