I recently made a new Horizontal Curd Cutter, patterned after the ones in these threads....
http://blog.cheesemaking.com/making-horizontal-curd-cutter/http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,14315.0.htmlIt uses a rotating wire for the cutter, held in a rotating rod that moves vertically, indexed by clips in slots in the support, dropping into shallow grooves in the rod....
What I did differently is that the grooves in the rod are 3/4" apart.... There are 4 grooves in the support for the clips, three are 1/4" apart (where the clips are in the photo), and one is 3/8" below the top groove.... By using a single clip in the top groove, the rod moves 3/4" between "clicks".... By adding a second clip in the 3/8" groove, the rod moves 3/8" between clicks.... With clips in the top, middle and bottom grooves, the rod moves 1/4" between clicks.... To cut the curds to 1/2", you simply push it down 2 clicks at a time on that setting....
The vertical wood blocks on the ends drop into the handles on our cheese pot, locating the cutter.... You first make the horizontal and vertical cuts at the appropriate spacing with a curd knife, let sit 5 minutes for the columns to heal, place the cutter on the top of the pot, and then you slide the cutting wire down until it touches the top of the curd, and then slide it down in the center vertical cut to the starting point you want (1/4", 1/2", 3/8" or 3/4" below the surface).... Turn it 1/2 turn, slide it down to the next position and repeat.... When the rod hits the bottom of the pot, you stop and remove the cutter, sliding it out the center vertical cut again.... Then I let the curds heal an additional 5 minutes....
I used it on the weekend for the first time on a Dill Havarti, to cut 3/8" curds, and the result was the most uniform cubes I have ever obtained, with no whales and virtually no "fines".... I am delighted with the results....
Bob