13 Gallon Cheese Vat

[Jaspar]

I just got a stainless steel Amish canner that holds 13 gallons of liquid, and i plan on using it to make 10 gallons of milk into 10lbs of Cheddar.
  My plan is to sit this into a cooler as a double boiler,adding warm water as needed, this should make for easy temperature adjustments. Has anyone tried this, if so any tips would be helpful.


Here is a picture. Cooler is a little large, but it will have to work for now.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Just keep in mind that it takes a lot of heat to change the temperature of 10 gallons of milk. Simply adding hot water may not work.

[Jaspar]

I've got the temp to 82 in about a half hour using 100 degree water at the start,
water temp is down to 88, so so far so good. I am watching the temp real close, and stirring often to make sure it is heating evenly

[smilingcalico]

You should be able to do it, but hitting temps over 100° might be an issue. That may limit doing some particular cheeses, but still gives you many to choose from. You might also consider adding your cultures as soon as you put the milk in to get them going. It will help to quicken the process, and may help to prevent unwanted bacteria to gain a significant foothold.

[Jaspar]

Good idea, I'll try on the next batch. I just added rennet to this one.
after I cut the curd I plan on removing a forth of the water and adding 140 degree water to bring it up to a warming temp, than after 10 min remove a forth again and repeat with 140 degree water. When I get the water up to 110
I'll stop and watch the milk temp real close.

[smilingcalico]

Careful you don't go over budget on your water bill!  Leave enough hot water for the Mrs. to take a shower!

[Jaspar]

Already thought of that. Two pots on the stove one for cool water coming from cooler, one with heated water to go into cooler.Just turn heat off one and on on the other.
Here are the curds draining, and in presses after "cheddering"

[Jaspar]

Here is the end result:

[9mmruger]

They look real nice.  Too bad about the wait!  :(

[Jaspar]

That's why  I have been making two at a time one to sample at 8 weeks and one to just let go until I can't stand it any longer  ;D ,
                                          Jaspar

[sstrantz]

Did you "bail" the whey out of the vat when you did your initial draining?  I'm thinking it would be very heavy  and cumbersome to try to lift even if the whey is mostly drained. 
How heavy are the walls of the canner...does it tend to bend at all?

[Jaspar]

Yes, I bailed it, first I used a jerky rack (like the one under the cheese in the last photo) to hold the curds to one end of the vat. Then I used a square Tupperware bowl to dip out the whey into a bucket on the floor, one of the kids(got 6, 5 at home) poured it into a pot on the stove for ricotta. The canner is made for holding water so no, no bending. It also has rods welded into it at the lip for strength, never lifted more than 4 cups of liquid or curds at a time.
                                        Jaspar