Flipping cheese in mold

[Dorchestercheese]

HI -
So on my first few flips of my cheese in the mold.  The cheese landed sideways in the mold.  Any ideas why?
I believe my curd was not quite set when I took it to the molds.

See pic

[awakephd]

What type of cheese are you making?

[Dorchestercheese]

Brie i thought...

[Stinky]

This isn't helpful, but I've always found soft cheeses extremely difficult to flip well.

[awakephd]

If you are using a tall mold, it is quite a challenge to flip the cheese successfully - even trying to move quickly, I find that the soft cheese starts to "fold" down before I get it all the way turned over, so it lands on its edge or on a corner, rather than sliding neatly down from one side to the other. My best solution has been to use shorter molds ... but that makes it more challenging to load the curds into the mold - they don't all fit until they drain down some. I confess I am still trying to figure out the ideal solution ...

[Dorchestercheese]

Thanks.  I was hoping if the curd was a bit firmer i.e. the rennet worked longer it would be ok.
I have seen anything from 90 minutes to 3 hours to set the curd...
Yes a shorter mold or a fatter mold would probably make it easier maybe its why so many people use the larger shorter mold for this.

thanks

[AeonSam]

I used to have this issue and the way I've resolved it is with equipment and I let my brie or camemberts drain for at least 6 hours before I try my first flip.

Here's a pic.

My equipment is a bamboo steamer. I cut out a draining mat and line the top with it. I do this in two of them and place one on top of the hoop and one below and when I flip - I do a very fast flip and some times the corners will still catch but it straightens itself out with a little shake. I find the curds are sturdy enough to handle it after a longer draining time.

I do this with a thin Camembert hoop and the wide Brie hoops

[Dorchestercheese]

Thank you so much.
My instruction made it seem like it was nessary to flip within 10-20minutes which was messy at best.

[Vnature]

I've found the simple solution for myself. The cheese mold should be filled with the curd right to the top and sometimes a little bit more. In that case the cheese doesn't fall within the mold during first 3 or 4 flips. After that the cheese becomes firm enough to survive the falling within the mold. I always make the first flip in 30 minutes after filling the mold.

[AeonSam]

Interesting,

I had read that if you flip it that quickly - you lose a lot of moisture from the curd. I will have to experiment a little.

Sam

[Dorchestercheese]

I've seen people say flip it quickly for a small mold but let it sit longer for a big mold...
Either way Its a bit difficult...I  assume it also depends on the curd firmness and how much moisture it has captured

[AeonSam]

Since most of my recipes call for a ph of 4.6 to 4.9 I usually have a whole day and a half before it reaches that so it's worked for me to wait awhile to be safe.

Sam

[awakephd]

Sam, I've given you a cheese for your solution -- I have been thinking about how I could do something like this, where the draining area "wraps around" the mold to some degree. The bamboo steamer is perfect!

[AeonSam]

Thanks Andy!

Sam

[Vnature]

I had read that if you flip it that quickly - you lose a lot of moisture from the curd.

That's right, no doubt. But... If the mold is filled halfway, then the dropping curd hits the bottom and lose a lot of moisture. If the mold is full, there is no hit, the curd just move slightly.