New at cheese making

[adalton]

Hello all, I am farely new at cheese making and am starting to dabble in firmer cheeses that require pressing.  I tried to build a press, but not sure if it was done right.  Does anyone have pictures of presses they have made, or plans on building a press capable of 5 to 10 gallons?  Also can I use alluminum stock pots to make cheese in? I own a 3 gallon stainless steel pot, but have access to a 40 qt alluminum pot.   I know alliminum and acid are enemies just didn't know about the reaction in cheese making.  Thank you for any advice, I greatly appreciate it!

Andy

[JeffHamm]

Hi adalton,

Cheesemaking acidifies the milk, so do not use the aluminum pot.  You'll get an unpleasant metalic taste to your cheese.  I just stack weights on top of my follower, but I know some folks here have some pretty neat ideas for presses.

- Jeff

[Cheese Head]

Welcome adalton.

On your stockpot shaped cheese making vat, just Search on the word Aluminum, you'll get several good discussions on why not to use, most in the EQUIPMENT - Making Cheese Board.

On presses, there are lots of pictures and some plans for different designs in the EQUIPMENT - Forming Cheese Board.

In addition to volume of milk, other things that will determine your final pressing weight and thus your presses size and robustness are pressed cheese shape and the cheese types that you want to press. There are several discussions on this in STANDARD METHODS - Forming Cheese Board and some in the different cheese type boards.

Have fun!

[adalton]

I'm obviously new to this site too, after posting my questions I noticed the equipment section too.  I didn't think alluminum would work, as an experienced cook I new about alluminum and acid in cooking, but wasn't real sure about cheese making, but it makes sense lactic acid and all.

[zenith1]

Andy -I wouldn't use an aluminum pot for the already mentioned reasons. Also search the forum for "Dutch Press" or Carterisum cheese press(he custom builds pneumatic presses). I would stay away from spring type presses, they typically don't press heavy enough and as the curds compress they decrease in pressure so you don't have a constant set pressure throughout the pressing.

[adalton]

Thanks for all your input!  Once I figure out how to load pictures off of my phone onto this site, I have some pictures of a press I made.  It was built with removable springs and is large enough to do up to 10 lbs of curd.  It was cheap to build I maybe spent $50.00 to $75.00 to build it so if you guys don't think it will work than it's not a huge loss.  I was able to make Gouda with it and it's in my basement air drying!  Thanks again, hopefully I'll have some photos soon.

Andy

[adalton]

Here are my press photos please give me all your input.  Constructive critisism is greatly appreciated.

Andy

[JeffHamm]

Hi Adalton,

Looks very professional.  Personally, I would remove the springs and place weights on the cross bar, otherwise as the cheese is pressed, it will move away from your follower, lessening the press weight.   I also like weights because you know how much you've put on, with the springs, how much pressure you're applying is more guess work than known (making it harder to reproduce later; 5 turns isn't the same if the springs are worn, etc).

Now, my prsonal preference aside, this is a common design and, since you've made a gouda with it already, clearly it works.  In the end, it's more important to go with what works for you. 

Oh, your molds.  Do they have drain holes in the sides?  They appear to be solid.  If you've made those, it might be worth drilling small holes (1-2 mm diameter) in columns, (roughtly 2 cm apart in the vertical, with each column about 2 cm away from each other, but the holes offset ; i.e. column 1 has it's first hole at 1cm from the edge, column 2 is at 2 cm, colum 3 starts at 1 again, and so forth)

- Jeff

[adalton]

I thought by routering a trough in the base that I could extract whey out the bottom while pressing and just flipping the mold over without actually removing the cheese from it and eliminating the holes in the side of the mold.  The one thing I did notice was my curds fell into the trough under the mold.  I just thought by setting my press up this way I could eliminate the use of cheese cloth.  Maybe the base of the press should be flat with a drainage canal outside where the mold would sit as long as the mold has holes?

I have made Gouda with it, but I don't know if it was right, I followed the directions and pressed it with the proper weight.  Making a pressed cheese for the first time with a home made press not sure if it's right.  I guess time will only tell.  I did press it without the springs and used bar bell weights minus the 2 lbs that the top weighs.  How do you know if you made Gouda, or close version?  I'm glad I found this site, you guys obviously know a lot more about cheese making than me and I am greatful for the education!

Andy

[JeffHamm]

Hi adalton,

I think if you've followed the steps for gouda, you've made gouda.  Now, whether or not your end cheese tastes like gouda, only time will tell!   The aging environment and conditions affect the final flavour at least as much as the make process.

I would put the drain holes in the side.  Under pressure, the curds will basically block the whey from draining to the bottom, effectively preventing much of the whey from being expelled during pressing.

You'll need cheese cloth, as without it the curds will go into the holes, and you'll have punk cheese.  Looks cool, but becomes a mold cleaning problem.  Once you have cheesecloth, when you flip you want to remove the cheese and redress it, which helps prevent the cloth from sticking to the curds. 

You could place a plastic "grid" on the bottom (a needle point type thing?), whihc might help prevent the curds from sinking into your troughs.

- Jeff

[adalton]

All the pressed cheeses on this site look to be smooth, I used cheese cloth making a Queso Fresco that tasted great, but didn't look very good.  Obviously Queso Fresco and Gouda are completely different, but I figured the cheese cloth would give the finished pressed product a very rough outside and would be a great place for mold to start growing.  Here are some pics of my not so good looking Queso Fresco using cheese cloth!

Andy

[MrsKK]

Following FarmerJD's advice, I made myself a couple of cheese bags - a circle at the bottom and a slightly larger at the top tube, made out of sheeting fabric.  I made them to fit into my cheese molds and it has solved a lot of the problems I was having with cheesecloth bunching up and making a less-than-smooth cheese.

Some of the members of the forum press "naked" for the final pressing of their cheeses, too.  Use cheesecloth for the initial pressings, then no cheesecloth for the final.

[adalton]

Thanks everyone for all of your feedback, I feel I got a lot of advice in the past day or two, and I appreciate it very much.

Andy