Curd Cutter - Kitchen French Fry Cutter, Tin Plated

[tally]

I have been using Margaret Morris' cheddar recipe in which she says to cut the curds with a french fry cutter. I have an antique french fry cutter made of tin. At least it is stamped with "heavily pure tinned" on the handle. Is this ok to use? Will tin adversely effect the cheese or the Ph? Any one know? Any one ever use one of these gadgets? Thanks for your help.

[mcfly]

Hey Tally

I'm not too sure about Tin to be honest but I think its best to be safe than sorry and just use a stainless steel cutter. I made a cheddar a while back and it didnt take that long to use a simple knife to get your curds cut into fries..

Good luck 

[DeejayDebi]

I wouldn't think a quick pass through the cutter would hurt anything cheese wise but the acids from the cheese might affect the cutter quickly if not wash soon after use. I would guess to that would depend on how much cheese went through the thing. I can't imagine a home cheesemaker would be doing more than a few pounds at a time so it might take longer to properly wash the thing than it was worth. Use a knife.

[tally]

Thanks Steve and Debbie. Will do.

[FarmerJd]

We cut the curds from 24 gallons of milk by hand every time. Stack the slabs and get a big knife. WE cut into about 3/4 inch cubes; roughly; very roughly

[DeejayDebi]

It really doesn't have to be perfect so don't worry - just enjoy the process! Once pressed we won't even know that some of the curds were square and some diamonds if you don't tell us.