My Dutch cheese press...hooyah!

[Brentsbox]

As far as taste,  not really.  As far as performance, quite a bit.  The copper pot is so much easier for me to control the heat.  I have a gas stove and can put it on low and it works great to let the temp rise slowly when cooking the curds, say like taking them from 90F to 145F (or something like that) over 45 minutes.  Then its real easy for me to maintain whatever temp.  I never had that much control with my stainless pot with a heavy bottom.  And when i was doing it in the sink with hot water, i was forever going up and down with hot or cold water.   So, yeah, from that stand point, it has made a big difference.  I am considering having the inside of the pot tinned and have found a guy near by in New Orleans that does that kind of thing and the price is very reasonable but i dont know that it is needed.  I use it so often that it dosent get much chance to build up any oxidation and I allays wipe it out real good with vinegar and rinse before using just because it seems like a good thing to do.  Bottom line - I love the heat control!

[Boofer]

Hi Boofer, I'm wondering where you got your awesome copper pot that you show in the pictures on this thread?

What copper pot? I use a stainless steel kettle that holds 4 gallons. It used to be used in my beermaking efforts, but has been recycled to my cheeserie. The pic shows it inside my aluminum lobster kettle which is now my double boiler.

I'd like to step up to a 10 gallon pot somewhere down the road so that my alpines can produce decent holes. That won't happen until my technique improves and I produce consistent quality.

-Boofer-

[Brentsbox]

Boofer,  its on the first post and it sure looks like a copper pot to me too.

[Boofer]

Oh yeah, I see it now...but I can't squint all day. 

No, I'm kidding. The rim does have a copperish hue. But the innards sure don't look that way. Must be my rose-colored glasses acting up again.

I wonder how many folks here use stainless or copper kettles? I'd lean towards the former. Seems like copper would be a real pain to maintain and would drive me insane. Is that inane? Sorry, remember the glasses. 

I was curious...why would you tin the copper? Seems like that would erode away with use.

-Boofer-

[Brentsbox]

most copper cookware is tinned to prevent oxidation.  the tinning is only on the inside of the cookware.  Copper can give off small amounts of something, im sure linuxboy can tell you what, but its not enough to worry about though.  However, if your cooking at temps over 400F then you dont want a tinned copper pot.  Tin melts at 450F

[DeejayDebi]

Well Y'all know my vat is a 8" deep SS chaffing dish or hotel pan but for cookware I use thick copper bottom pans for heat control - very old Revere Pro Line series. They worked great for small batches of cheese as well but my biggest is only 2 gallons.

[judyp]

What do you have under the cheese on your press to collect the whey?  A friend made me a press very similar to yours, but I haven't used it yet because I haven't figured out what to put under the cheese to catch the whey.  I am a newby at all of this!!!  

What kind of moulds are you using?  Are they for hard cheese?  When pressing more than one mould, how do you keep the board on top the cheese moulds pressing equally on all 4 or 2 of them?  I've been thinking about it and if one compresses before the other the press top would be unlevel, right?

Thanks!
Judy

[FarmerJd]

Use a pot to catch the whey. Just get one large enough to hold the mold you are using then empty it out each time you flip the cheese.

[Boofer]

Hi Judy,

Yeah, what FarmerJD said...just about anything will do to catch the whey. One of the pictures shows a broiler pan I used. If it starts to get too wet, just empty it out and put it back under the press.

Up to this point I have been frugal with my mold expenditures. I have a 7.375 inch "Tomme" mold that serves all of my 4 gallon (3+ lb) hard, semi-hard, and semi-soft cheeses so far. I have four 4.375 inch Kadova molds that I have used a couple times for Jack and Gouda. My most recent expense is a 5"x10" SS brick mold. It has yet to see service but I anticipate a repeat try of my Esrom with that mold which would be closer to the cheese style.

I built my press so that I could stack molds vertically or spread them out. I've shown the small Kadovas being prepressed under whey and in the Dutch press with a cutting board to spread the pressure somewhat evenly.

I show two ways that I press under whey. I know you didn't ask that, but I thought I'd throw it in anywhey. In both cases, the pot should be covered and the warmth should be preserved.

Hope this answers some of your questions. Keep asking.

-Boofer-

[Boofer]

I happened to be combing through some pics I had used when designing/building my press. One that really seemed to convince me to design in the 4-pulley system may be useful to other folks. By merely adding some pulleys to the system, the overall pressing capability is improved tremendously.

The pic illustrates that when you add a pulley, the force required to achieve the target pressure is reduced, but the distance required to pull on the rope (and achieve the target pressure) is increased.

-Boofer-

[Radek80]

Moulds for Italian cheese - Fresh Cheeses, Mature Cheeses, Brie, Caciotta, Fresh Goat Cheese, Camembert, Primo Sale, Robiola, Crescenza o Stracchino, Taleggio, Mozzarella Fiordilatte, Ricotta, Yogurt, Dolci

http://alcofermbrew.com/en/Multipacks-c65.html

[Radek80]

http://alcofermbrew.com/en/Cheese-kit-for-homemade-cheese-p832c65.html

[ArnaudForestier]

It seems like no one is ever around any longer, which is sad.  I know it's been so many years but I just want to say to all the "old guard" I hope you are well and happy.  And to the webmaster, so much gratitude for founding this and keeping it going.  And to the newer people, from an oldster now, best wishes on all your ventures in this wonderful hobby.  It's nice to be back cheesemaking again.

I actually built a press almost exactly on Boofer's design and it worked great - regularly made 8" wheels of what we called "Beaufort" here, most of us taking our starting point from SailorConQueso's excellent threads, pressing up to 4 psi, maximally, if I recall correctly.  Eventually I went to true Abondance, 10 kgs or so, with the unique concave alpine hoops and a massive screw press. 

But it's been too long.  I know Boofer used 2 x 8's and 2 x 3's, as well as 1 x 1 steel rod, but can't recall if he ever gave dimensions on his cut lumber for the build.  I know the one I built was probably way too huge - the bottom length alone made it a major project to haul in and out on cheese day.  So if anyone might have Boofer's original dimensions, that would be great.

[tecla]

I don't have his original dimensions, but I built a Dutch-style press for myself out of walnut wood a couple of years ago that I've used with over 100 lbs of pressure. I only ever need it levered up that much when pressing cheddars. I'd be happy to share pictures and measurements of mine if that would be useful.

I've been able to press cheeses up to about six inches in height, and up to around 10-ish inches in diameter, although that gets pretty hard to fit.

I made a gruyere a few months ago (5 months left to age) that I had to build an adjustable hoop for, as I don't have any hoops big enough otherwise. I didn't use the press in that case, I just tightened the hoop and kept a cutting board on top with a weight on it, and that seemed to do well enough. The hoop was made out of stainless steel flashing, and I had a hard time not cutting myself a bit on it when tightening it, so that will need some fixing.