Author Topic: Cheese press vs. Mold  (Read 3295 times)

sburt42

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Cheese press vs. Mold
« on: June 09, 2010, 07:56:42 PM »
What are the reasons for having a cheese press rather than a cheese mold.  Do they not preform the same function, is one better than the the other.

Thanks

linuxboy

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Re: Cheese press vs. Mold
« Reply #1 on: June 09, 2010, 08:17:08 PM »
What do you mean by a press? Those overpriced all in one contraptions that have a mold, follower, and spring? Or do you mean a more industrial press?

There are several components to a pressed cheese system:

- One, the hoop that contours the edges of the cheese. Hoops can be open or have a bottom.
- Two, a follower to press on top of the hoop. This can come in an integrated fashion like a kadova or can be a basic piece of plastic or stainless
- Three, the applicator of weight. This can be a pneumatic piston, spring, weights with mechanical advantage, etc

With those three elements you have a lot of design options for how to get it all working.

MarkShelton

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Re: Cheese press vs. Mold
« Reply #2 on: June 09, 2010, 10:57:51 PM »
I assume you're making hard cheeses.
Presses tend to be much more user friendly, especially if you require a lot of pressure. Assume you're making a cheddar in a 6" mold and you want to use a modest 8 psi to press. If you only have a mold with a top, you would need to find a way to safely stack ~226 lbs on the top of the mold, then pray that it presses evenly and the cheese does not lean to one side causing the entire weight to topple over. This can be nerve-racking and even dangerous to pets, children, cabinets, flooring, yourself, etc.

Cheeses that require less pressure, like havarti or other semi-hard cheeses, wouldn't be quite as bad, but still, the risk of the whole setup falling and ruining a cheese would be enough to at least look into a simple press.

Personally, I have a spring type press from cheesemaking.com. Aside from being expensive, I know it has major drawbacks and limitations. Springs lose compression as the cheese is compacted, and I am limited to the amount of force that can be applied by springs alone. For the most part it works pretty well for me, though. After the initial pressing, I can pretty much leave it alone and not worry about it. I don't have to scour my apartment looking for "heavy things" that I can find, fill pots of water, or try to figure a way to get my mold centered under the computer desk (if I were pressing 4 cheeses at once, I could put one under each leg, but I would have to put the dresser on top to get enough weight  ;D)

BigCheese

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Re: Cheese press vs. Mold
« Reply #3 on: June 09, 2010, 11:31:30 PM »
I would like to second the statement about the dangers of stacking weights. As a person who cracked (as in big crack, completely broken out chunk) a $300 composite granite sink last week pressing 4 1lb Kadovas, I found a renewed appreciation in the far too expensive press I have from the cheesemaker.com. I just figured out how to use it in conjuction with my 8" mold, so now I am liking it even more. Still need to figure something out for those kadovas though.

Got epoxy today, hope to fix the sink tomorrow.

Offline sominus

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Re: Cheese press vs. Mold
« Reply #4 on: June 10, 2010, 01:52:50 PM »
I would like to second the statement about the dangers of stacking weights. As a person who cracked (as in big crack, completely broken out chunk) a $300 composite granite sink last week pressing 4 1lb Kadovas, I found a renewed appreciation in the far too expensive press I have from the cheesemaker.com. I just figured out how to use it in conjuction with my 8" mold, so now I am liking it even more. Still need to figure something out for those kadovas though.

Got epoxy today, hope to fix the sink tomorrow.

*ouch*

Another reason I press cheese in my garage on my old, beat up workbench..

My wife would shoot me... Sorry to hear about your kitchen disaster.

-M
--
Michael Dow

9mmruger

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Re: Cheese press vs. Mold
« Reply #5 on: July 22, 2010, 04:53:55 PM »
I have both types presses, spring type and the plastic hoop with follower.  Both work well.  I use weight plates bought at Dunhams.  These work great on the plastic hoop and follower and because they are so thin they balance on the follower without tilting.  Just center them.  Cheeses come out 7.25 in dia and about 3 to 4 inches thick.