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GENERAL BOARDS => DAIRY FARM - Equipment => Topic started by: Al Lewis on February 20, 2015, 06:53:13 PM
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A while back I purchased a mold that was advertised as a 3 pound Edam mold. The dimensions, as described from the manufacturer are "3 pound cheese mold and follower lid 1,360 grams Internal Diameter: 4.5" Internal Height: 6" Dairythene Plastic" and are correct. When I received the mold I thought that there was no way three pounds of curd was going to fit into this and called the distributor with my concerns thinking perhaps they had mistakingly sent me a smaller mold. The lady I spoke with was more than nice and assured me I had the right one. She even offered to refund my money and take the mold back. I opted to keep it and try it out anyway. I've been dying to try this thing to see how it worked out so yesterday I did a 3 pound make for a gouda, yes I know it's an Edam mold. The recipe I used required three gallons of PH whole store bought milk and two pints of heavy whipping cream. Once I got everything ready to load the mold, yep maybe a little over two thirds of the curd actually fit into the mold. I use my old standby the "Mad Millie" cheese press to do the remaining third of the curd despite it's limitations on weight. Both of the cheeses are now in their brine and, once dry, I will weight them to see exactly how much fit into the mold. I'm really posting this in case anyone else has bought one of these, or is considering buying one. Had it nor been for the Mad Millie press I would have had to throw out 1/3 of my make. I would hate to see that happen to someone so I'm just kind of using this as a "heads up" to others. The mold itself is absolutely beautiful. It's very well made and I really like it. I'll know next time to leave out a gallon of milk when I use it. Here's a picture of it so you'll have some idea of the one I'm talking about.
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Just wondering if anyone else here has used this trick. I have two round cheeses brining at the same time. Both are from the same make. As they are round it's very difficult to keep rotating them so one side doesn't dry out. My answer was to place a follower on top of them and hold them both under the brine. Little bit of a balancing act at first but is working fine now. Completely submerged they can brine evenly for the entire period without any additional effort.
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Well I now have a disc and a giant pill like capsule!! LOL Not sure how you flip the latter. Guess I just roll it! LOL
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Ha ha... ;-) Looks good! :-) Are you thinking of swallowing the capsule in one go? ;-)
Have a cheese...
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No but I am considering putting it back into the mold before I wax it just to get it round again. LOL
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I believe I found a solution here. I turned the follower upside down and sat the cheese in it like an egg cup. That exposes all but the radiused end to the air to dry. Then I flipped it this morning to dry the other end. Cheese dries and maintains its shape. ;)
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Creative thinking! :-)
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Better living through modern chemistry!! LOL O0
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Al ----have run into the stated weight problem on molds with several molds that I have purchased----seems to me they rate the weight by the end result, after pressing, but realistically, it would be nice to know about how much curd can I get in this mold before pressing. Many times I had to load up curd and then do a partial press, just to get the rest of the curd and follower in. That's a pain in the butt. I have a bunch of molds I don't use very often for that very reason. So thanks for letting us know about this mold.
Qdog
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You're welcome Qdog! I usually look at molds and they give a range of the size of the cheese. This one doesn't. I based my calculations on 1 gallon milk=1 pound cheese. That may be way off but it seemed to work up until now. Must be the "new math". LOL Anyway, I'll be looking at molds a lot more carefully after this one.
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Just wondering if anyone else here has used this trick. I have two round cheeses brining at the same time. Both are from the same make. As they are round it's very difficult to keep rotating them so one side doesn't dry out. My answer was to place a follower on top of them and hold them both under the brine. Little bit of a balancing act at first but is working fine now. Completely submerged they can brine evenly for the entire period without any additional effort.
Hi Al, I've used a submerging technique several times when I have small wheels to brine, as in my Saint Paulin (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,12760.msg99164.html#msg99164) cheeses. Works very well.
The small mould follower is used to push the wheels under the brine when the lid is closed.
-Boofer-
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I read one recipe Boofer that said there was no need to flip a cheese while brining as the water gets on the top but I would think you have to keep it under the surface or flip it. I prefer just keeping it under the brine the entire time.
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The larger wheels I do float and there's no effective way to submerge them so I just flip at the halfway point. Did that last night with a Montasio after nine hours and removed it this morning after a total of 18 hours. It's a 4 pound wheel. I'm doing a Tomme right now which will reuse that same whey-brine. I'll flip it too.
The smaller cheeses are easier to just submerge under the brine. Less hassle. Some larger cheeses have required a 2AM flip. More trouble.
Hey, Al, I just pm'd Pav about his site, www.wacheese.com (http://www.wacheese.com). Have you visited it lately? Looks like it has either been abandoned or moved.
-Boofer-
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My computer says it contains malware. You might want to remove the link.
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Do you not add salt to the top that is protruding from the brine? I thought that was the normal thing to do--I still flip them but I always add salt to the exposed side. I've tried to salt the exposed side of a long cylinder (like what Al is dealing with--won't flip easily...or maybe it does, but how can you tell which side is up and which is down)--it just rolls over and dumps the salt. On those, I've had to just hold them under like you both are talking about.
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Do you not add salt to the top that is protruding from the brine? I thought that was the normal thing to do--I still flip them but I always add salt to the exposed side. I've tried to salt the exposed side of a long cylinder (like what Al is dealing with--won't flip easily...or maybe it does, but how can you tell which side is up and which is down)--it just rolls over and dumps the salt. On those, I've had to just hold them under like you both are talking about.
I do this, as well.
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When I first started making cheese I saw recipes that called for this but if you think it out it really makes no sense. The top of the cheese remains wet throughout the process and, if you flip halfway, they both get the exact same exposure to the brine.
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I agree that both sides of the cheese will get the same exposure to the brine - but the side pointing up will (in theory) continue to acidify while the side pointing down will be stopped acidifying faster. That's the reason I springle salt on the side pointing up.
Maybe it has no real effect, but in theory...
:-) Danbo
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I think it's one of those " to-ma toe to-mah-toe things.
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Al: I think you're right - it's just a matter of habbit...
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Someday I'll find or develop a salt diffusion model for cheese and then we can run different scenarios to see what (if any) difference it makes.
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(http://alcofermbrew.com/image/cache/catalog/Cheese%20Moulds/Cheese-Mould-Alcofermbrew%2015,2x15-600x600.jpg)
http://alcofermbrew.com/en/Cheese-Mould-1kg-p798c65.html (http://alcofermbrew.com/en/Cheese-Mould-1kg-p798c65.html)
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Radek, I hate to say this, but the way that you are adding product listings to old threads comes across in a rather negative light. Are you wanting to participate in the discussions about making cheese, or is this just an attempt to generate some free advertising?
Sorry if the question comes across as rude; I don't want to be rude, but don't know how to address this without being rather blunt!
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Well said Andy.