Pressing Cheese - Temperature?

[BigCheese]

I am gearing up for the big cheesemaking session. I will be doing approx three 8 gallon batches per week for 3 months. I have stainless steel (for curd cutter), molds, cultures, ph meters, and more on the way.

On concern I have is pressing. No books I have seen go into any depth about temperature during pressing (although I have not seen Farmstead Cheesemaking yet, should be out at my front gate right now though). I am worried that I will have trouble keeping the temperature warm enough all night during pressing. What is ideal for like Gouda, Havarti, Parmesan, Gorgonzola? If it is too cold, the acid will slow down and the curds won't knit well, right?

Also, eventually I get to the point where it will be maybe to warm, like high 80's to 90's overnight. Will I need to press shorter so I can get it to the brine and halt the acid? Do you all have any contraptions that you use to maintain the right temp? I do not have HVAC so that limits my ability. I considered building an insulated box, but I would rather not if I did not have to...

Any thoughts are much appreciated.

[DeejayDebi]

Idea pressing temperature for most cheeses is between 84 to 88 degrees. While air drying over night you really want to keep the cheeses around 70 to 75 degrees.

[EPCream]

Along this same line, if I am making say a parmesan where I finish cooking the curds at 124ish and have let it set for 5 min. do I have to wait until it cools down 30 degrees before I start pressing?

I ask because made my first one the other day and not thinking about it, started the first five pound press while it was still well over 100, resulting in TONS of runoff, and I would imagine stayed hot for quite a while.

thanks!

[BigCheese]

What do you mean by runoff? Like fats leaving with the whey? If you just mean whey, that should be fine. I have never waited for my Parm curds to cool, although they no doubt cool some during draining. I also tend to go pretty high with my pressure pretty quick. I do not get the sense that I am making problems (sealing the outer rind before the inside has knit together well) for myself, but I will find out in some months...

[EPCream]

Looked to be mostly whey, it took it about 2 hours of pressing to get down into the 80's with how hot and humid my kitchen was...is there an easy way to tell whey runoff from butterfat?

[BigCheese]

The fat would come out with the whey, but, like oil on water, they dont mix. You can see the shiny goodness floating in your whey. If nothing else, you FEEL it when you go to flip or touch the cheese. Also it can get stuck int he holes of the netting or cheesecloth. what I am trying to say is that if you don't know, it probably didn't happen

[EPCream]

thanks, pretty sure none of that happened.