Weighing Cheddar Curds

[Rooster]

Hi all,

I was wondering if any of you folks have a good solution to a small problem I've been having with my cheesemaking.

Most recipes for cheddar call for around 2% of curd weight in salt. I am making batches of 9 gallons, split across 2 five gallon stainless steel steam trays (combining curds into 1 post-stirring). The only scale I have is small, and only goes up to 10 lbs, so even if I could see the readout under the giant pan, it would be too heavy.

Caldwell's recipe says that it usually yields between 0.8ln-1.1lb per gallon, so I have just been estimating at 9lbs from 9 gallons for my makes so far, but want to get more precise. Before I go buy an oversized scale, or attempt to reinvent the wheel, has anyone solved this in another way?

Thanks!

[River Bottom Farm]

I use a small hand held digital hanging scale and some cheese cloth (tied with curds in it)