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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => EQUIPMENT - Making Cheese => Topic started by: Spoons on January 27, 2014, 07:54:34 PM
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I think this is new from thecheesemaker.com
I once had a similar but manual setup. This battery operated setup pumps a gallon in about 45 seconds. Check out the demo:
Whey Pump and Strainer (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TOCIrKMnDs4#ws)
Could be very useful for those 4 gallon + vats.
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Looks readily available and cheaper on a few other sites.
Amazon. $13
http://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Tools-Battery-Operated-Liquid-Transfer/dp/B000HEBR3I (http://www.amazon.com/Sierra-Tools-Battery-Operated-Liquid-Transfer/dp/B000HEBR3I)
HomeDepot. $15
http://www.homedepot.com/p/DuraHeat-Battery-Powered-Siphon-Pump-DH-20/100125308?cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100125308&skwcid&kwd=&ci_sku=100125308&ci_kw=&ci_gpa=pla&ci_src=17588969 (http://www.homedepot.com/p/DuraHeat-Battery-Powered-Siphon-Pump-DH-20/100125308?cm_mmc=shopping-_-googleads-_-pla-_-100125308&skwcid&kwd=&ci_sku=100125308&ci_kw=&ci_gpa=pla&ci_src=17588969)
Neil
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Hm...the difference being that the Cheesemaker version takes two AA batteries (which makes it easy to use rechargables), whereas the other two require D cell batteries.
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Here is another on Amazon that takes AA.
http://www.amazon.com/TeraPump-TRHA01-Battery-Operated-Pump/dp/B00APU2X0K/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1390858465&sr=8-6&keywords=Battery-Operated+Liquid+Transfer+Pump (http://www.amazon.com/TeraPump-TRHA01-Battery-Operated-Pump/dp/B00APU2X0K/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1390858465&sr=8-6&keywords=Battery-Operated+Liquid+Transfer+Pump)
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A year ago I purchased two of these: one a manual (with a squeeze-bulb) and a battery operated one similar to that in the demo. They worked fine but sanitizing is a real problem. You can't steam sterilize and even if you flush it out with 180F water there can be some curd bits somewhere in the tubing that don't get disloged :o.
I gave the manual pump to Habitat for Humanity and I still have the battery operated if anyone wants it (or maybe I gave that to Habitat too ???). To me it's hard to beat food-grade silicone rubber tubing if you have a big pan like in the video and have to siphon. You do have to manually "prime" it with tap water, but with practice you can pitch the curds quickly with very little whey left in the pan plus you can steam sterilize the silicone tubing. By the way, instead of a strainer when I make a 4 gal. batch I use a piece of plastic mesh to create a place for whey to collect at one end and siphon with the tubing (per attached pics).
By the way I did purchase an Avantco (http://www.amazon.com/Avantco-Electric-Countertop-Food-Warmer/dp/B0037XDN6U/ref=sr_1_sc_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1390868392&sr=8-1-spell&keywords=advanco+warmer) food warmer based on another forum member's recommendations and while it does work well (and is relatively low cost) it is big and I personally think there are other more versatile options out there.
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You can't steam sterilize and even if you flush it out with 180F water there can be some curd bits somewhere in the tubing that don't get disloged
This would be my concern as well. With any pump, if you can't somehow CIP it, I'd be suspect. I use the same method as John, and it works well. Simple, as well.
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Most of the time convenience is found in simplicity. Thanks for the
sanity sanitation tip, John. I used to do it manually too. I used a mesh tea ball as a filter. The ball was great for draining 1/3 to 1/2 for washing curds, but not so for a complete drain.
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I dream of a square vat (have it, check), metal screen for an end drain, and a tri-clamp butterfly valve. Afraid my wife won't allow a setup as big as our living room. ;D
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One thing about a square steam table pan (aside from lighter, easier to handle, easier to pour, easier to cut curds, yada yada ^-^) is it does make it easier and faster to pitch (drain) curds. If you cut a coarse plastic mesh screen slightly larger the width of the pan and cut the corners to match the radius of the pan bottom you can easily slip the mesh screen down one end and isolate the whey at one end as shown in the picture in my last post. It takes a little experimentation (i.e. tipping the pan one way, inserting the mesh, etc.) but you can create a nice pocket to insert your silicone tubing or a liquid pump if you have one and syphon / drain the whey. I used to use the method shown in the video where you use a strainer to push down the curds to drain the whey but I felt like I was "mashing" the curd too much. The square-pan-pitching method seems to be much more gentle to the curds and very effective.
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Has anyone tried anything like this?
http://www.petsmart.ca/fish/aquarium-maintenance/aqueon-water-flow-assembly-control-valve-zid36-5125539/cat-36-catid-300018?_t=pfm%3Dcategory (http://www.petsmart.ca/fish/aquarium-maintenance/aqueon-water-flow-assembly-control-valve-zid36-5125539/cat-36-catid-300018?_t=pfm%3Dcategory)
That faucet valve creates a natural siphon once you turn the water on.
You simply connect it to your faucet. Then connect a cheap food grade tube to it. Make sure the valve is in the right direction. Turn on the faucet and you have a natural suction. Once the water is flowing, you can turn off the faucet and the whey will still keep draining.
A few notes though: The faucet needs to be lower than your vat. Also not sure how quickly the whey would flow out. The control valve is only about $15, and as far as I understand the principal, we don't need to buy the complete set (tube and all at $40).
Here are 2 videos on how it works:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMgsvzge6-s (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMgsvzge6-s)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJUq-dRDpuU (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pJUq-dRDpuU)
I'm thinking of trying it out.
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Thanks for the tip Spoons. I watched the first video and have to say it's a very well designed system. It appears to be an aspirator pump that they have added a valve for flushing out the tubing when finished. Like you say you can pick up some less expensive (and shorter) tubing from the hardware. Not sure it would be a great choice if you were trying to reserve the whey as it does take a good bit of water flow to get these things pumping.
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Hi John,
I bought it and tried it with water. It works great!
As for reserving whey, it's also easy. The water from the faucet only needs to flow to get the siphon started. It only needs to flow until the whey makes it's way thru the tube if the tube is empty. Once the tube is like 75% full of whey, then you can turn off the water and let gravity take its course. Your whey container (if reserving whey), would need to fit in the sink though.
I'm making a cheese next Friday. I'll post with more pics.