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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => EQUIPMENT - Forming Cheese => Topic started by: Cheese Head on December 25, 2008, 08:06:30 PM

Title: Cheese Cloth - Tea Towels?
Post by: Cheese Head on December 25, 2008, 08:06:30 PM

Merry Christmas all, we are short on tea towels, so for Christmas I got these from my wife who got them in New Orleans on our Thanksgiving holiday there.

Nice quality, see close up, could almost use these for cheese making cheesecloths rather than Tea Towels ;).

(Excuse the logo, I'm going to start putting it on the website's pictures as Google etc indexes them (http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&rls=com.microsoft:*:IE-Address&rlz=1I7GGLL_en&q=cheeseforum.org&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wi) and it might bring in more traffic).

Title: Re: Cheese Cloth - Tea Towels?
Post by: Tea on December 25, 2008, 09:24:43 PM

I agree you could use them as cheese clothes, although they maybe a little porous.  When I am draining, I use a layer of cheese cloth, then I wrap that in a tea towel.

Anyway, I think they are just great.

Title: Re: Cheese Cloth - Tea Towels?
Post by: wharris on December 25, 2008, 09:44:23 PM

I dislike cheese cloths.  Perhaps I need to find better cheese cloths, but I really really do not like them.

I would prefer to develop a process that leaves them out altogether. 

The last several batches of  cheddar were made without the use of any cheese cloth.

I used a stainless steel colander made from a fine wire weave.

and my Kadova moulds have built in microscreen.

Title: Re: Cheese Cloth - Tea Towels?
Post by: Tea on December 25, 2008, 10:28:58 PM

I did a trial with one of my cheese where I lined some of my moulds, and left others without any lining at all.  Pressed them all the same.  The lined ones I thought oozed more whey, but by the end of the aging period, I didn't really see much different in the final texture or taste of the cheese.  It was the monteray jack recipe that I did it with.
So I have to confess, that I don't always use cheesecloth if I think that I can eliminate it from the process.

Title: Re: Cheese Cloth - Tea Towels?
Post by: Cheese Head on December 25, 2008, 11:01:16 PM

Agree, for pressed cheese you can often go without cheesecloths, depending on your hoop or mold. Where you really need them is for making soft hung cheeses like Cream Cheese and Neufchatel and for wrapping for aging.

Title: Re: Cheese Cloth - Tea Towels?
Post by: Cartierusm on December 25, 2008, 11:47:22 PM

I hate cheese cloth, I use it in my colander when draining curds, but that's not the pain part. I hate lining my molds with them as the bunch on the top always makes an indent. Now I don't use it ever. I get some nubs that pop through the mold holes but they are 1mm long, so I just pluck them before waxing or brining.

Wayne, you're not using the cheap supermarket cheesecloth are you?

Title: Re: Cheese Cloth - Tea Towels?
Post by: wharris on December 26, 2008, 12:24:01 AM

Here is my colander and mould micro-screen
(http://vxxwgg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pyZbVnqNDAPQo1DXbXQDsSQQQ7pifOuH69lIWnlmsZHQWO_8QPlyWXvjNBHRvL83x4g0KhEIptAADoIbCpoxPBQ/DSC_0005.jpg)

(http://vxxwgg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pS8E2-YJvSw3RAj-aVMDUxpz5wiovd4Sqf9cR4suFVf86rsEQFe-zuc4yDGmkqD5p13x6_jqcdzaiKQ3VbAVdlw/DSC_0007.jpg)
A better picture of the micro-screen is here (http://vxxwgg.blu.livefilestore.com/y1pS8E2-YJvSw3RAj-aVMDUxpz5wiovd4Sqf9cR4suFVf86rsEQFe-zuc4yDGmkqD5p13x6_jqcdzaiKQ3VbAVdlw/DSC_0007.jpg)

Title: Re: Cheese Cloth - Tea Towels?
Post by: Cartierusm on December 26, 2008, 04:53:34 AM

Wayne is that you I hear in my kitchen..LOL I have the exact same basket (strainer).