New moulds

[hoeklijn]

I'm sorry, I'm still writing the plastic stuff as "mould" and the fluffy stuff as "mold".
Anyway: I was looking for quite a while for a mould for a 3 kg Stilton and some Tomme-like moulds. Here in the Netherlands it quite easy to buy Gouda moulds, Kadova's or for use with cloth, or moulds for soft cheeses, but somehow the others are only to be found abroad, or what you find is extremely expensive.
But last Saturday I found 1 meter (about 40 inch) of PVC tube with a diameter of 16 cm (6.3 inch). Here the first results:

[knipknup]

Nice hole patterns and followers.

I'm curious about the use of PVC.  I heard it affects the flavor of the cheese but not sure where I heard that or how official it was.

What has been your experience?

[Tomer1]

PVC has rised some question in the past few years regarding food contact but despite that its still widely used in resident water lines.
Many prefer to choose PE over it.

[Boofer]

Your new moulds look good. How did you fashion the followers?

I will try to follow your lead and use "moulds" for the plastic and "mold" for the fuzzy stuff.

I'm curious about the use of PVC.  I heard it affects the flavor of the cheese but not sure where I heard that or how official it was.

There have been quite few discussions on the use of PVC in cheese making. Search the forum for threads.

-Boofer-

[hoeklijn]

Followers are made from a PE tray. I think I will use a mug or something like that to place between the follower and the press.
I'm certainly going to look into the threads about PVC, but so far I considered that it is indeed widely used for water lines as for sewerage (proofs that it resists certain acidity?), so I was not worried about that...

[hoeklijn]

I did a lot of reading about PVC today. I learned that it is used for electrical cables, computers, keyboards, cars, radio's, fridges, washing machines, respiration appliances, blood bags, catheters, probes, water lines, hoses, protective cloths, toys, packaging etc. etc.
I learned a lot of other facts reading results of tests, published on several forums and I came to a conclusion:
I'm going to use it, because I think it is save.
I'm more worried about nuclear energy, the fact that 99% of the chicken meat in the Dutch supermarkets contain multi resistant bacteria due to the crazy amount of antibiotics used in the bio industry and drugdealing pain clinics in some American states.
I respect everybodies opinion, but my opinion is that the use is save and this is more or less the same discussion as about the use of raw milk, which is also not allowed in some countries/states.

[DeejayDebi]

Very nice job on the moulds! I can not cut a clean circle to save my life!

[Caseus]

Those are beautiful.  Really well done. 

What kind of saw did you use to cut those perfect circles?

[hoeklijn]

I used an electric jig saw with a fine blade for the circles. And a lot of sandpaper  ;)

[Hande]

You can get real cheese moulds rather cheap, and not to need think it is safe. And those least your life.
http://www.kaesereibedarf-leidinger.com/epages/62318676.sf/de_DE/?ObjectPath=/Shops/62318676/Categories/Kaseformen
http://www.s197985995.online.de/index.php?cPath=37_63&osCsid=85443f8deba34b5e9ed28bf04428661d

Hande

[hoeklijn]

Thanks Hande, to be honest, I never searched for suppliers in Germany, although I can read and speak German. I had a look at both websites and besides a lot of forms for soft cheeses, they did not have a lot for pressed cheeses, but they DO have other stuff that is not available here in webshops, like ash and a variety of cultures.
Regarding the moulds, I also have to consider the amount of milk I can handle in one batch, so a mould of 20 cm wide will be too wide  :(
And it is hard to find cylindrical moulds that are higher, fro cheeses like Stilton, so I decided to make them myself. Also hard PVC will last a lifetime....

[Roo]

Very nice moulds. 
I have some in the process of being made, and with the length of time the cheese is in the press and that is wrapped in cheese cloth, I am with you, I think it will be safe.