Do i press to hard ?

[tal_d1]

I made Emmentaler from 4 gallons of raw milk and press it
with 6 inch mold under 130 pounds. is it too much ?

[H-K-J]

I did 120+ over night knitted together very nice 8)

[tal_d1]

My cheese looks great but how the weight influence the final cheese ?

[H-K-J]

I chose that weight from others recommendations and gleaning through the forum,
also 2 gallons of water is easy enough to hang from my press :)
what effect this has? some of the more in the know will have to help with that :-[

[Alpkäserei]

how much does the cheese weigh
emmenataler should be pressed 6 to 10 pounds of pressure for every 1 pound of cheese. This i take from the Swiss law.

this then i would guess that your cheese will need 24 to 40 pounds of pressure (NOT PSI)

overpressing could potentially make the cheese a little dry. but it is better overpressed than underpressed

[H-K-J]

The pressing schedule I used (thanks Alpkäserei)
after each press the cheese is flipped and redressed
press for 5 min under warm whey @ 40 lbs on the follower ( the whey started out at about 105 deg/F)
press for 10 min under warm whey@ 40 lbs
press for 20 min under warm whey@ 40 lbs
press for 45 min under warm whey@ 40 lbs
press for 1 hour under warm whey@ 40 lbs
press for 2 hour @ 40 lbs (didn't use warm whey at this point)
pressed naked  (without cheese cloth) for 4 hours @ 60 lbs
pressed naked  (without cheese cloth) overnight @ 120 lbs
I decided to bring up the weight I was afraid it wouldn't knit, but with hind site bein 20/20 it was more than likely unnecessary :P

[Tobiasrer]

You pressed 'naked' with higher weights dont you find more curd is pushed into the holes in your mold this way?
I was under the impression you should press a final at the end 'naked to help smoth any marks from the cloth out, with a light weight so bnot to push out the holes?
I was unhappy with my Gruyere when after the 12hr I pressed at the same weight as I got little nubs everywhere, I tried today with my gouda on a light pressure will check when I get home

[H-K-J]

Yup necked and yes a few nubs, after flipping and washing it the nub's go away (mostly)

[Alpkäserei]

Proper Swiss Emmentaler is made in special forms, usually what is called a Järb, which is a fixed height form with adjustable diameter, or a Vätter, which is a fixed dia. form with follower. Neither of these have holes.

As for increasing the weight at the end to ensure knit, this is a non factor, if it is not thoroughly knit by this time, it is not going to be (at least that's my thought) The knitting should all occur during the first few pressings. The later pressings are to drive out moisture and to get rid of any flaws.

Part of the reason we keep the cheese covered, or in the case of a small cheese press it under whey, is because the temp. is needed for knitting. By the final press, there is not enough warmth left in the cheese to knit it any more.

As for the nubs, they tell me they go away. But if I was making a cheese that got nubs on it, my Swiss obsessiveness would lead me to remove them.  :P

Don't forget to trim those corners either!

[H-K-J]

I never did trim the edges of mine :o

[tal_d1]

Hi Alpkäserei,
The cheese weigh after press is 3.5 pounds so from your explanation i
should press at 35 pounds max and i did 130 pounds. this is a big over press...
I am really confuse, I made the cheese by Debra Amrein-Boyes recipe and here
book describe low press as 5-10 psi and i press at 4.8 psi while her recipe call for firm
press which is by the here book 20-45 psi.

[Alpkäserei]

how long does the recipe say to press? the swiss law i reference states that a cheese should be pressed for no less than 15 hours
i think this is the major discrepency, many recipres have much weight over a shorter time.

[tal_d1]

16 hours.

[Al Lewis]

One thing I learned quickly in reading through the various cheese recipes on sites is that some have mistakingly referenced PSI or pounds per square inch rather than simply pounds.  One instance called for 50 PSI on a 6" diameter mold.  That would require about 1400 pounds.  Of course what they really wanted was 50 pounds of weight on the follower.  On a different note... I have to say that after reading all of these high weights for pressing Swiss I am a bit concerned about mine as the recipe I followed calls for 20 pounds overnight.  With initial pressing being done under the 120 degree whey the curd went together great so I can't understand the need for a lot more weight than that called for.  Hope my trust in this recipe doesn't come back to haunt me.  :-\