Best place to buy Kadova molds

[9mmruger]

Keep me in mind for a mold or two as well.  I am interested if the price is right.  I would be looking for a 1.5 to 2.5kg size.  I only make 3 gallon batches at present.

[KosherBaker]

Well, one more person in the chorus of all those waiting to hear/see the final outcome.

Whether anything comes of this or not LinuxBoy deserves a medal.

There really isn't a word to say Thank You. So you'll have to fill in what I mean.

[ConnieG]

OK, so I came to this site to see if there was any info on the best place to buy a Kadova mold and find this!  Wow.

Is the ordering still open?  I am looking at the 1 KG size but depending on the prices would be interested in a baby mold too.

[Brentsbox]

sounds like a co-op just waiting to happen to me.   

[linuxboy]

OK everyone, let's get this going. I am going to import molds from two companies.

One, I am importing Kadovas with Stephan's assistance. I tried to get pricing to have kadova-like or alternative molds that have built-in nets made, and it's expensive for the volume we're dealing with. So with Stephan's help we can get a pallet or two freighted in to me and then I will re-send to everyone. Please note, for cheapest freight, we will be going with LTC sea, which does take some time (up to 2 months). Also please note I do get a slight corporate shipping discount I've negotiated with our US shippers (UPS/Fedex). Not extreme, but it should help. To get pricing, please follow these steps:

• Look on Stephan's site http://www.thecheesemouldshop.com/en/ and find the product you need.
• Create a spreadsheet with the part number, description, and quantity. Don't forget Kadovas have multiple parts so make sure you get the net, follower, etc.
• e-mail me the spreadsheet to pav @ wacheese.com (remove spaces)

I will not answer your e-mails immediately and instead will compile everything for a period of three weeks, and then I will answer everyone to confirm. Please don't be offended, this is a lot of work, and I'm trying to keep it efficient. This is not a commitment to buy, just a pricing request. After I get back to you with pricing, you can make a decision about purchasing.

Two, I will be importing molds from France, direct from manufacturer. These are not like Kadovas and are your standard HDPE/PP camembert, chevre, tomme, etc molds. Glengarry carries these, and so does New England, and Dairy Connection gets them from Margaret at Glengarry. I have not finalized the item and description lists, but I think everyone is familiar with these molds. In general, prices should be 30-40% below cheapest available from the common vendors. Please give me another few weeks to finalize these details and I will make a purchase list and pricing available.

I am also importing CHR Hansen's entire FD-DVS and supply line, and that will be available as soon as they get back to me next week with final pricing.

Please note for this initial buy, I am donating my time and overhead. If you don't want to get in on it, after the initial buy, an online store will be available for regular purchases, with slightly higher prices to account for inventory and overhead cost.

Also please note, I'm not sure yet how I want payment to work. Likely I will ask to pre-pay a portion up front and rest upon delivery.

Thanks for your support, everyone! Let's keep learning and making great cheese.

[Amatolman]

Wow  linuxboy
That sounds great! Thanks for all your hard work!

[Boofer]

Im having a lot of trouble figuring out the metric stuff and the descriptions.   

   Quote: This Kadova® Baby Gouda cheesemould has internally a diameter of 145 mm and a radius of 22 mm. With this cheesemould a cheese can be made of approx. 900-1100 gr, depending on the quantity of curd you fill the mould with.

How can you have a diameter of 145mm and a radius of 22mm?  What am I not understanding here?

Good question. I'm looking at the 1.5/2kg Gouda mould and it shows:
"The mould has internally a diameter of 180 mm and a radius of 30 mm.

With this mould a cheese can be made of approx. 1400-2200 gr, depending on the quantity of curd you fill the mould with. "

How does that work? Do we even need to worry about dimensions when what is really important in the grand scheme of things is to consider the volume of curds we want to deal with? In my case, 1400-2200 grams. That is important to me if I am making a cheese with 4 gallons of milk. 1kg = 2.2lbs.

-Boofer-

[linuxboy]

See Stephan's explanation below

[Stephan]

All Gouda cheeses have rounded corners, on the top and bottom side. We call the roundings "radius"
The rounded corners come from the radius (Radius = 30 mm) that is in the bottom of the mould and from the radius/roundings in the lid pressing plate. Together mould and lid roundings give the cheese its typical (baby) Gouda shape.

The inner mould diameter is 180 mm = 7,09" (1 inch = 25,4 mm)
The 1,5-2 kg is the name of the mould: it indicates you can make a cheese of 1,5 to 2 kg in it. If you put more curd in you can make up to approx 2,2 kg.
Usually, to get a consistant cheese weight on all their cheeses, cheese makers dip the mould net in the curd mass and fill the mould net till the top of the plastic mould net ring and then put in the mould and under the press. You can vary the curd volume and the cheese weight will vary accordingly.

Hope this helps.

[KosherBaker]

This is wonderful news. I'd like to know which mold are "eligible" for order. For example there are Kadova Manchego line molds on the site. But I don't know if those are going to be included in the group buy. So can those be ordered? And if no one else orders one will that not erase the discount?
I would also love to see the price list for these to figure out what I can allow myself to spend. But in absence of one I'll ballpark to discount estimate LB gave in his post.
BTW has anyone ever used or seen the Kadova Manchego molds? I think only the Gouda has been available in US. Or at least that's the only one I've seen reviewed/discussed. I'm curious if there are any specific design characteristics of the Manchego mould that are worth knowing before hand. Like the lip on the 450g Gouda mould that prevents the follower from going beyond a certain point. Or slanted, i.e. tapered inside that would also prevent the follower from going past a certain point and so on.

In the end the Kadovas may prove a bit too good for me and I may have to go with the French moulds. As a casual home cheese maker I think sizes of 4", 6" and 8" are pretty much all that I could use or need, with straight non tapering sides. No? But the French molds only have the 8" Tomme that can withstand any kind of pressure.  The 4" is a Camember which probably is thin and cannot be pressed either at all or very hard. And I don't see a 6" mould with straight sides at all in the French selection.     Hmmm. So many questions.  Hopefully things will clear up down the road.

[Mondequay]

Thanks, LB, I have visions of molds decorating my shelves!

[DeejayDebi]

I use two of the 2kg kadovas for 7 gallons of milk if that helps.

[Brie]

Linux--thaks so much for all of your work! I will wait for the imported mold list, as the discounts seem fantastic. Also, can't wait until you start selling the cultures!
You rock!

[DeejayDebi]

Linux--thaks so much for all of your work! I will wait for the imported mold list, as the discounts seem fantastic. Also, can't wait until you start selling the cultures!
You rock!

Me too!

[Stephan]

This is wonderful news. I'd like to know which mold are "eligible" for order. For example there are Kadova Manchego line molds on the site. But I don't know if those are going to be included in the group buy. So can those be ordered? And if no one else orders one will that not erase the discount?
I would also love to see the price list for these to figure out what I can allow myself to spend. But in absence of one I'll ballpark to discount estimate LB gave in his post.
BTW has anyone ever used or seen the Kadova Manchego molds? I think only the Gouda has been available in US. Or at least that's the only one I've seen reviewed/discussed. I'm curious if there are any specific design characteristics of the Manchego mould that are worth knowing before hand. Like the lip on the 450g Gouda mould that prevents the follower from going beyond a certain point. Or slanted, i.e. tapered inside that would also prevent the follower from going past a certain point and so on.

In the end the Kadovas may prove a bit too good for me and I may have to go with the French moulds. As a casual home cheese maker I think sizes of 4", 6" and 8" are pretty much all that I could use or need, with straight non tapering sides. No? But the French molds only have the 8" Tomme that can withstand any kind of pressure.  The 4" is a Camember which probably is thin and cannot be pressed either at all or very hard. And I don't see a 6" mould with straight sides at all in the French selection.     Hmmm. So many questions.  Hopefully things will clear up down the road.

The kadova Manchego mould is executed with liners, just like the other kadovas. Because of its sizes it was named Manchego. The Kadova manchego mould is a cylindrical mould with straight corners and smooth inner surfaces. The lid can slide down to halfway the moulds height, as the mould is slightly tapered. There is no lip like on the 450 gr. The mould net is resting on top of the mould rim, just like the Baby Gouda 1 kg, or the 1,5-2kgs. This kadova mould does not have the typical Manchego grooving/pattern. It can be part of the group buy, it can be ordered per piece.

We also have the "real" Manchego", these are listed under "Manchego". These work with cloth, but do have the typical Manchego pattern in mould and lid.

If you think the Camembert mould is too thin you can order a similar sized Kadova mould and lid without the nets and use a cloth instead. Moulds and lids can be ordered separately although they are not (yet) visible in the shop.
Please send your requirement to Linux so that we can send details on prices etc.

Hope this helps
Stephan