My first parm had problems unmolding

[mikeradio]

Here are some pics from my first parm, everything went well, till I took it out of the press, after pressing overnight.
My mold has a netting built in and the netting stuck to the outer layer of the cheese.  When I pulled the netting off
it tore off some of the cheese .

I pressed     30lbs  for 20mins
                    40 lbs for 30mins
                    120lbs for 18hrs

I am not sure if I overpressed the cheese causing the  netting to embed  in the outer layer?  Should I have removed the netting
for the final press?  Any help or suggestions would be great.

I used 16L of 2% milk and got a yield of 1.5kg  3.3lbs













After the first press at 30lbs for 20min

After the second press at 40lbs for 30min


After the overnight press at 120lbs for 18hrs

[Sailor Con Queso]

Search the forum for cheesecloth sticking. Several discussions.

[mikeradio]

Thank you Sailor

After thinking about it more I don't think it stuck to the netting, I think the cheese was pressed and went through the very small holes in the netting and set up on the other side.  I should have taken a plastic scraper and removed the cheese on the outside of the netting and it would have released from the netting, and not ripped the cheese.  I think with parm being such a hard dry cheese, I don't need the netting after the second press, I will try this on my next one.

Mike

[Sailor Con Queso]

Mike, This is more common than you think, especially with thermophilic cheeses such as your Parm. You should really search and readup on cheesecloth sticking.

[zenith1]

Mike-very common especially with thermophilcic strains that have late acid production while the wheel is in the press(in contact with your cheesecloth). Try soaking your sanitized cheesecloth in some warm acidified whey for you final pressing.

[mikeradio]

Thank you zenith1 and sailor, I have been reading all day on this problem, it seems to be a very common problem.
I hope to try another one tonight and try it alittle different.

Mike

[Homestead]

Nice looking curds too!