need advice on draining and catching whey

[steffb503]

OK as some of you know I am in the process of getting my cheese permit.
We are almost there with the inspector coming out on Monday hopefully for the final inspection.
I am having an issue with draining.
When making cheese in the house i would put a large aluminum  lasagna pan under my cheese which would sit up on a small inverted brownie pan. My goal was to catch the whey and keep the cheese up out of it.
That method simply does not seem professional nor do the inspectors like aluminum.
I am using the "off the Wall" press.
Can some one tell me how they contain the whey running out of the press without allowing it to run on the counter or floor.
Thanks

[smilingcalico]

I believe Sailors counter is part of the sink, so it runs into it.  Ours is not an off the wall press, and we do just let it drain onto the floor and down the floor drain. Of course we also scrub the floor after every make.

[coffee joe]

I too am using off the wall press. While I am using some pretty hefty weight, some whey sprays out of the drain holes in the mold, so we need to wash the tile wall and the floor. I found stainless steel pizza pans, cut a 1/2" slot out of one side and the bulk of the whey drips from that into a Tupperware container on the floor. I'm probably lucky to get 75% of the whey to actually find its way to the container, the rest is cleanup.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Are you doing just a single press? If so, I would use a 3" tall stainless cooking pan to keep your inspector happy. I would then cut a piece of poly cutting board just to keep the hoop off of the bottom. You could stack these up to gain more height as needed if you intend to drain manually. You can drill a 1/4" weep hole in the pan to drain into a bucket or whatever.

[steffb503]

I am using  single press at the moment. I love the presses in the pic like mine but mine is over a table. It is removable from the wall.
I would love to come up with something similar to a kitchen drain board to direct the whey into a bucket but they do not seem to be big enough to reach the edge of the table.

Coffejoe got any closer pics of those presses? I am interested in the plunger attachment.

[coffee joe]

The presses are made of 2" angle iron as I work my way up the PSI scale. Here are a few shots. The short wood spacer is to maintain the plunger vertical and helps quite a bit. I think it was Wayne that posted this idea.

[KosherBaker]

One more possible option, if the price doesn't put you off:

Stainless Steel Drip Tray

[steffb503]

Oh I love those pics. I might be doing some rethinking on my press.

I think I figured out what to use. I have a dog crate with a plastic tray on the bottom. I can place this under the mold, drill a few holes in one end and have it extend to the edge of the counter into a bucket.
Think it will work? Will I still need to raise the mold?
http://www.petco.com/product/102333/PETCO-Dog-Crate-Replacement-Tray.aspx?CoreCat=OnSiteSearch

[coffee joe]

Since you are working to certify your cheese, ask your inspector. In my case, it had to be either stainless or HDPE, I went with the HDPE as shown and the stainless Pizza pan.
16" Pizza pan available at Amazon.com for $15

[Sailor Con Queso]

Your inspector is going to require food grade, especially in NY.

[zenith1]

Steff-don't forget to remove the dog first!

[steffb503]

He is coming first thing this morning.
He said food grade for anything touching the cheese.
My problem with the pizza pans or similar is my counter is 30" wide and the cheese on the press is usually near the back.
You would be surprised and what is made out of food grade plastic.

[Edgwick Farm]

How did it go with the inspector?

[steffb503]

So far so good. The tray thing is fine as long as it is washable.
I am waiting for the official phone call as I type.
Either way I have a 8 gallon Emmenthal pressing with my dog crate tray works well.

[steffb503]

IT"S OFFICIAL!!!!!
I am now a legal cheese processor in NY.