7" bucket for pressed cheeses

[DiamondDaveMg]

I made a sturdy form for pressed cheeses from a new 1 gallon bucket from the paint aisle at the local Ace hardware.  The bucket has an inner diameter of approx 7-1/2" and a height of 7-1/4"

I printed up a grid pattern and affixed it to the bucket with spray tac, but tape would have worked too.  I used an awl to press a small mark in each center and then removed the paper.

I used a variable temp wood burnishing tool because I didn't want to burn the plastic or melt it too quickly.  I used it a on low setting of 215 degree Celsius and that gave nice, clean holes.  There were no detectable fumes or smoke, but I had a desk fan directed at the work space for added precaution as fumes from plastic can be unhealthy.

I'll be using this for a 4 gallon recipe

[paulabob]

Looks quite well done!

[DiamondDaveMg]

Looks quite well done!

Thanks - but now that I've done some volume calcs I think I'll need more than 4 gallons to use this properly, more like 6+ gallons!

[paulabob]

Might be a challenge if you were to press.  The wider the surface area, the more pressure required. 

[Lancer99]

Very nice. Mine are more random

What do you plan to use as a follower?  The biggest problem I've found when pressing in tapered molds is that often at first it's too small, then too large.

-L

[DiamondDaveMg]

Very nice. Mine are more random

What do you plan to use as a follower?  The biggest problem I've found when pressing in tapered molds is that often at first it's too small, then too large.

-L

I have a circle cutting jig for my bandsaw and cut a follower from a thick plastic cutting board.  The follower just barely fits the bottom and therefore when at the very top there'd be about a 1/2" gap around it.  Flipping the chess a few times before the final press will help with the edge, but I'll always have a lip to trim off the final loaf.

Since the follower will never be at the absolute bottom of the forms, since there will always be some number of inches of cheese below it, I may cut another follower to fit 3 inches up.  That would reduce the lip to about 1/4".

[Lancer99]

I tried almost the same (twice) but could never get the screw tight enough on my jigsaw, despite using pliers, and just ended up with plastic spirals. .

So I went with wood, much easier, and wrapped in plastic wrap during pressing, just in case.  It never got close to the bottom.  And like you, I just trimmed off the lip.  A nice early snack!

-L