Cheep Curd Harp Idea

[Tiarella]

But how do you do the horizontal cuts?  Seemed that with Terry's you could do a pass across the vat, turn the cutter around and bring it back through in the same line to finish cubing that strip.

[Alpkäserei]

No horizontal cuts.

The idea of vertical and horizontal cuts would be a good one, if the curd remained in one place. But it does not, so this is unnecessary.

The curd is cut uniformly by stirring motion, which moves the curd around so that it is all cut. Trust me, it works  This is how I learned to do it. You stir first in a circle, then in a figure 8 pattern with some wrist motion to bring the bottom curd up to the top. It's very hard to explain, but not very hard to do.

Chetty's idea is a great variation of this same principal for a small vat. Though personally I would use copper wire or stainless steel lead wire (like you would use for fly fishing) and not polymer fishing line. But that's just my opinion  Or, you can go to a music store and buy some stainless steel guitar strings. Buy good ones, they are very high grade corrosion-resistant, acid resistant alloy that is annealed and can withstand a lot of tension.

The big cheese harps like we use have a copper tip, and are used in a round bottom copper vat. You let this tip rest on the bottom of the vat, and run it around. The curve of the bottom moves the harp up and down, helping to lift the bottom contents up to the top.

[Spoons]

A good supplier for Stainless steel wire is theringlord.com

These guys supply all sort of metal wires for people that build chain mail armor. They have SS gauges from 10g to 26g.

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Terry, I am hitting my head to walls for not thinking this sort of design. You are my inspiration today.

I have 2 X 20L boilers which are round. If I build a harp with half vertical and half horizontal lines and as wide and as deep as my boiler, I can then finish cutting in seconds by turning it 360 degrees inside the boiler. And the curd will be cut more accurately then knife cutting.

I was on an inventor's mind block but that cleared now. Thanks again.

[terry@dairy fab]

Gurkan, The only problem with this style of knife is that with the vertical cuts, you end up with concentric rings that you may have to break up with a single long bladed knife. It does do a terrific job with the horizontal cuts though.

Terry@dairy fab

www.curdknives.com

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

I guess for my small operation, I can live with these concentric rings.

[gsager18]

For those of us who don't have welding rods around, is there any reason why a bent metal coathanger wouldn't work instead?

[Chetty]

I would shy away from anything that might mess with the cheese.  Metals like aluminum, galvanized pipe and metal coat hangers (at least the ones that I have) will not stand up to the acidity that comes with cheese making.  It might also taint the final product.  Rust, color, flavor.  So I would look for something that is stainless steel so you know for sure that it won't affect the cheese.  I went to my local metal work shop they had all sizes.  For ten of them cost me three or so dollars. 

[tnbquilt]

My daughter bought me one of these for Christmas, and it just tears the curd up something awful. Maybe that is what Sailor means by you can't cut both ways at the same time because it's too much stress on the curd.

I tried to get my daughter to send it back but she didn't know what charge card she put it on and didn't want to bother with it. So I show it to other people and tell them not to buy one.

[tnbquilt]

Working on it

I can't wait to see what H-K-J comes up with

[H-K-J]

I can't wait to see what H-K-J comes up with

I have a couple of ideas yet no time to develop them, working out of town and all I want to do when I get home is rest up to leave again on Sunday
Oh well, fall is coming, then maybe cheese makin time (i'm running low )

[steffb503]

Tnb, I have one of those. I typically make 10 gallon batches and it seems to work ok enough.
I sure would love to have a real good one though. I might have to talk to Terry.

[Spoons]

I found this curd cutter online. The design is real convenient for small batch home cheese makers. You can also rotate the handle on the spot for a vertical-horizontal switch. You also thread the fishing wire yourself to the size you want. Don't know what the increments are though. They're in Brazil and have a minimum order of $150 though.




http://shop.etielcheesemaker.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=128

[tnbquilt]

That's a great idea, just move the handle!

[ArnaudForestier]

That is a cheese harp, the best design ever devised for hand use

Alp,

Can you tell me where you got your harp?  And do they do smaller sizes?