Pressing with a bottomless mold

[bansidhe]

I am having a hard time visualizing pressing a cheese in a bottomless mold.  It seems to me pressing a cheese using a sushi mat would force the cheese into the mat.  Pressing a cheese on a normal surface, would not allow whey to drain well enough.  Could some explain to me how a cheese is pressed in a bottomless form?

[MacGruff]

I use a cheesecloth in the mold to avoid the kind of problem you are describing.

[jmason]

cheesecloth at least in the begining, after 1 or 2 flips it can go naked.  I always do my camemberts in a bottomless mold without cloth, of course they aren't pressed and just drain under their own weight.

John

[bansidhe]

Thank You!

[lacaseus]

I'm guessing you're thinking of lower-pressure pressing, but I'm currently pressing cheddars at around 6PSI/~200lbs. My mould has an unattached bottom; it's just a board with holes drilled in it. The cheese is always wrapped in cheesecloth, and it seems to drain okay without extruding very far into the holes.

I actually just posted about it if you'd like to see some pictures: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,19546.0.html

[paulabob]

The cheeses I've done that have called for that have not been pressed, just drained and flipped like brie.  I have not had much issue with it sticking to mat, but a bit will, but with the cheese so soft still, it doesn't matter.