Cheesecloth embedded in pressed cheese

[OzzieCheese]

and 1/4 tsp of Single strength rennet - Arghhh ! how big is your teaspoon and what is 'Single Strength' supposed to mean ?

-- Mal

[OzzieCheese]

Just on the actual topic.  I press all mine with plain cheesecloth and before I put it in the molds I wash it in the whey before adding the curds.  It still embeds a little but it peels away without ripping.

-- Mal

[Stinky]

Oh, is that why they say to do it with damp cheesecloth?

[Danbo]

Thanks for all the comments.

I happy that I'm not the one getting it all wrong... ;-)

I made a Butter Cheese again today (with way to much pressure). The cheese cloth was stuck to the cheese again. I'll never learn... ;-)

Well... I pressed it again using much lower psi and that was much much better!

I experienced the following:

- Extreme pressure just blocked the cheesecloth at once so that only very small amounts of whey could escape - and the cheesecloth was almost impossible to remove from the cheese

- Reduced pressure made they whey flow much better, the cheese cloth was not blocked - and the cheese cloth could easily be removed

Lesson learned: Listen to the more experienced members of the forum and press at "normal" (lower) PSIs.

Thank you all - I love this forum!

:-) Danbo

P.s.: I actually really like the 200 Easy Cheese recipes book - just wish that the chapter about pressing was correct.

[awakephd]

Danbo, one of the best "rules" for pressing that I have learned here is to press only enough to produce a trickle of whey, especially in the early stages.

[Danbo]

Awakephd, I think that I have reached a crucial point in my cheese making experience... Trust your gut feeling and former experiences and don't just naively trust anything in a recipe.

I know of the "rule" that you mention but I have never really had the guts to just press as I thought was right. That is going to change now... :-)

[OzzieCheese]

It funny you that you bring up the pressing - too much or too Little - as I keep seeing (from cheddar postings anyway) pressing of 45 PSI and there is noway I can get there. I press mine at the end with 50 Kg and get a wonderful knit and uniformity throughout the cheese. But it starts with about twice the curd weight - so not much. Since reading G.Caldwell's book where she advocates a more gentle pressing process and it depends ... what is your goal for your cheese.  This is where the 'Gut feeling' comes in ... it's that realisation that we are working with a delicate structure trying to remove the water without loosing the fat - which is why we make cheese in the first place.  It takes just as much care pressing the cheese as it does following the previous steps getting to this point and heavens above there are no hard and fast 'Rules' there either - more like guidelines - YarHar !

Sorry had to put it in !! 

-- Mal

[Danbo]

Hi Mal,

You forgot to mention what size mould you are using the 50 kg on... ;-) Just couldn't help it...

I assume that you are using a 4" (10 cm) mould with an area of 2 x 2 x 3,14 = 12,6 sqin, hense the PSI would be 50 / 12,6 = 4 psi

For my 8" (20 cm) mould with an area of 4 x 4 x 3,14 = 50 sqin that means that I would need 50 x 4 = 200 kg on my press to obtain the same as you.

That actually makes good sense for a good final pressing psi - that was excatly the amount of pressure that I ended up using on my last cheese. No embedded cheese cloth, nice closed rind and a big smile on my face...

At first I was really annoyed that Caldwell in her book does not provide precise pressing PSIs. Now I am beginning to understand that experience and gut feel is required. The curd could be slightly different from time to time and ambient temperature etc. has an impact.

In the future I will keep an eye on the flow of whey when pressing instead of just trying to force it.

:-) Danbo

[qdog1955]

Danbo------Have to agree with the Dr. on the trickle thing---it works well for me----you have to understand that in the USA, there seems to be a mentality of " If one is good, five has to be better" and it just doesn't always work that way.
Qdog

[Danbo]

I get your point! ;-)

[OzzieCheese]

@Danbo.  The cheese form I was referring to is 165 mm (whatever that is in Feet and inches ??).

[Danbo]

Mal,

YarHar! ;-)

[Frodage]

As a new (again) cheese maker, these high pressures have been a massive bug-a-boo. I can't justify spending $200 on a press, and wouldn't trust a 20kg weight on my table top (I seen recent posts where they slide off).

Last Nov when I got back into this hobby, I spent $5 at the hardware store, and built my own press (see my photo). I don't press more than 2kg at a time, but mind you, I don't press salted curds with it either (no cheddars to my credit, yet! ).

Mind you, I can't help feeling that with your advice, and the fact that I haven't yet made a gouda I can be proud of, maybe I should be pressing at higher weight.

In a separate post, I will show my press and my calibration procedure.

[OzzieCheese]

Have you seen this  ?

https://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,13831.0.html

[Frodage]

Here's my $5 solution to cheese pressing. I took five pine 1x2s, 1 foot long each, and connected them with  screws and a bolt. The second picture shows the arm and pusher connected, again with bolts. In the third picture, the balance beam is vertical so that it can easily be stored in the closet. The balance beam in place makes the press more stable.

To calibrate, the arm, pusher and follower without any extra weights are weighed with a kitchen scale. Then in the sixth photo, a water bottle with a small volume of water makes a 500g press. Add an extra bottle and you get to 1kg. With three bottles, I can get to 2kg.

I haven't tried more weight, because (as yet) I haven't needed more weight.

Now the question becomes, what are the consequences to the cheese of low weight/long time vs high weight/short time?