Author Topic: Colby won't come out of mould  (Read 3234 times)

Offline eroch

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Colby won't come out of mould
« on: January 30, 2012, 02:33:24 AM »
Hi,

First post here. I've been making cheese for a while but that's my first properly pressed cheese attempt with a mould. I made a Colby and flipped and redressed without problems then left in the press overnight in a 4" mould at 50 pounds weight. When I tried to remove the cheese from the mould, it would not come out! I have a stainless steel mould with draining holes on the sides and the cheesecloth and cheese was starting to bulge there so I reversed the cheese in the press and pressed it out the other way. As I did this, the cheese split a little bit at what was the bottom of the cheese during the overnight press. In an attempt to save it, I put it back in the press and re-pressed a few hours but it was still stuck. I let it air dry but it it still stuck. The cheese will not come out at all and I don't want to repeat the same thing I did earlier. I don't have any problems of the cheese sticking to the cheesecloth. It's just that the entire cheese will not move in the mould. It's a 2 pound cheese in a 4" mould so it's a little high. What can I do?

Evelyne

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Re: Colby won't come out of mould
« Reply #1 on: January 30, 2012, 02:50:18 AM »
Hi eroch, welcome!

Strange problem to have, good news is sounds like you are using a hoop so you easily apply force in either direction.

Two choices I can think of, force it out now which may cause further structural failure (which will be hard to keep mold free during ripening) or let it air dry longer in the hope of shrinking the cheese and it comes free easier in a day or two.

The cause of it sticking could be from the shape etc of your hoop or from your make method for example when I've made lactic acid coagulated cheeses I find they are very sticky, pictures and more info would help.

PS: I'm Canadian, grew up in North Vancouver but live in Houston, my wife's from Calgary, eldest daughter is at UoAlberta in Edmonton and second is at Queen's in Kingston Ontario, where you at?

anutcanfly

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Re: Colby won't come out of mould
« Reply #2 on: January 30, 2012, 03:57:01 AM »
I was having the same trouble.  The cheese was not stuck to the cloth, but the wheel was stuck inside the mold.  To prevent hurting the cheese, I would pound on the follower with something until the seal released and allowed the cheese to move.  I destroyed quite a few things in my efforts!  Tin cans don't appreciate being pounded ;D  Ultimately, the solution for me was to get plyban (I got it from Hoegger's).  That ended all the problems with stuck cheeses, and I didn't have to pick strings out of the rinds anymore!  The disposable cheese cloth New England Cheese Making sells is similar, and in some ways better, but then your back to the cheese stuck in the mold problem!

Offline eroch

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Re: Colby won't come out of mould
« Reply #3 on: January 30, 2012, 02:52:49 PM »
Yes, I'm using a hoop. I can't post a picture unfortunately but I have the 4" stainless steel hop with draining holes from The Cheesemaker and a dutch style cheese press. We ended up pretty much destroying the cheese in order to take it out, there is one huge crack that almost split the cheese in half, but your responses had me thinking a little more about the problem. The first time the cheese got stuck, I was using a different cheesecloth. The cheese was coming out of the draining holes slightly and that is what was preventing it from coming out but the follower came out no problem. I should probably have let the cheese dry a little bit instead of prying it out. When I put the cheese back in the hoop to press again to try to get rid of the crack that developed on the first attempt, I used thicker cheesecloth in an attempt to avoid having cheese coming out of the draining holes but I think that caused even more harm as the follower got stuck (I suppose this thicker cheesecloth was too thick for the gap between the hoop and follower).

I brined the cheese and we'll taste it fresh and see if it's any good. There's no hope for aging it anymore. I'll try again next week. Do you think letting the cheese dry for a few hours after it's finished pressing would help with the cheese that bulges in the draining holes or am I going to cause other problems? Any other tips for this draining holes problems?

P.S. I live in Gatineau (just across the river from Ottawa).

Evelyne

anutcanfly

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Re: Colby won't come out of mould
« Reply #4 on: January 30, 2012, 05:20:14 PM »
I'm using the 6" stainless steel from the Cheesemaker.  It could be the draining holes, but I get the same bumps in the drain holes with plyban as well, and yet it slides right out.  I don't have any idea if drying it for a while would help.  But I would suspect that it would take quite a while.  How about a cold ice bath?  I can't see your cheese, but I age lots of cheeses after I cut them in half.  They don't need to be whole wheels to age, and I've successfully aged cheeses with cracks.  I just made sure the wax filled the crack and it aged just fine.  Don't be too quick to give up on your cheese!

Offline eroch

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Re: Colby won't come out of mould
« Reply #5 on: February 01, 2012, 03:57:35 PM »
I can't see your cheese, but I age lots of cheeses after I cut them in half.  They don't need to be whole wheels to age, and I've successfully aged cheeses with cracks.

I think that was a good idea but after cutting the cheese in half, I realized there were lots of big cracks going in all directions inside. We have decided to eat it fresh (it tastes ok, just like fresh cheese). I will try again on the weekend.

Evelyne

Offline DeejayDebi

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Re: Colby won't come out of mould
« Reply #6 on: February 18, 2012, 04:27:01 PM »
Sometimes the whey and cheese fill the holes and it creates a vacuum and it hard to get the cheese out. The plyban or other such plastic cheese cloths has millions of tiny textured bumpsand grooves that don't fill with whey and cheese so no vacuum and cheese splits right out. The advantage of the plastic cheese cloth is nothing sticks to it. Wonderful stuff! I reuse mine several times. I cut circles for the bottoms and strips for the sides. I belief Ed made baginers from the plyban using a vacuum sealer.

anutcanfly

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Re: Colby won't come out of mould
« Reply #7 on: February 18, 2012, 05:49:24 PM »
By mistake, I boiled a piece plyban I got from Hoegger's and it was fine!  So I can not only reuse the same piece, but I can sterilize it with everything else.  I think I've been using that same piece for the last 10 cheeses, and boiled it 3 times now. 

I didn't think of using the vac sealer to make press bags... Cool, I'll try that today!