Pressed Cheese Knitting Poor On Sides - Hoop Without Drain Holes

[Buck47]

My last few cheese did not knit well on the sides.



http://s844.photobucket.com/albums/ab6/allamakee1397/Cheese/

All are made from fresh raw cows milk. Using the instructions from Recipe Book supplied with Junket Rennet Tablets. Kemps Cultured Butter Milk is used as the inoculate at a rate of 1/4 cup per gallon milk ( Incubation is done over night - 8 hours at 68 degrees F.)

Junket tablets - 1/2 tablet dissolved in 1/4 cup water per one gallon of milk.

After removing cheese from molds they where rubbed with a liberal coating of flake salt wrapped with cloth and turn every day for the past four days the cloths being replaced each day.

Cave temp has been 54F at 97% humidity.

I'm not sure how to proceed from this point. My concern is the poor knit on the sides being a good place for mold to grow.

I sure could us some advise as to how to proceed.

BTW: I have wax but do not have a way to vacuum seal. In the past I have used Cream Wax Cheese Coating after a hard rind developed before coating with wax. But due to the poor knit on the sides I hesitate to use that on these cheeses.

Previously I had good results using this receipt only substituting Sour Cream or MA4000 Culture sold by Hoegger Supply under the name "Farmhouse Cheese Culture". I believe the buttermilk is the problem with the knit. Can other members verify this?

Thanks for your help. Regards: john

PS: As you can see I'm having trouble inserting a photo. Could use some help on that also.

[Cheese Head]

Hi John, attaching pictures to posts is easy once you figure out the trick, for others there's a How To FAQ on it here. Also for others, the preferred method is to upload your pictures to this website as that way they are linked to the posts permanently. If you upload your pictures to a picture website and link them, then over time if the URL changes the links are lost and thus threads are less useful for others to read and learn, there are many of these already in this forum.

There are many causes of poor knitting of curds, to quote member Francois: excessive cooking, loss of too much heat during pressing and insufficient pressure during pressing, some more info here.

From your link above I can see one picture on another website which I just downloaded and re-uploaded to the end of this post for others.

Indeed the sides appear to have poor knitting and poor rind development, and of course the interior could also have poor knitting and pockets of whey. However what is interesting is the tops and presumably the bottoms appear to have good knitting and good closed rind development. Thus in addition to the above ideas, what does your mold system look like, is it cheese cloth lined, any holes in sides for whey to escape and a rind to form, or are holes just in base and follower?

Also, after pressing, when you are dry salting the rind, why are you re-wrapping the cheese in a cheesecloth, normally after pressing and dry salting a rind you let it air dry, or have I misread you?

Lastly, I agree, waxing these 3 cheeses will be a problem, my vote is to oil seal them instead.

Hope helps!

[Buck47]

Thanks for the response John,

Was able to post a photo in my original post thanks to your help.

Now as to your questions: My press (mold) are made of Stainless tubes. - see below

One cheese was pressed using a cheese cloth liner.

The other was pressed using two round pieces of cheese cloth cut to the same size of 6 inches (same as the tube) and then the curd was loaded. The press manufacture recommendations this procedure.

The press loaded curd, was kept warm by placing it inside my cheese vat covered with a towel at a temperature of 86 degress F.

Max press pressure was 50 pounds - 12 hours.

I agree it seams a bit strange the tops are nice and smooth.

As to your question about wrapping after salting.  The receipt says to "Salt and re-wrap with fresh cloth on a rack replacing 'bandage' when it becomes wet (daily at first) Keep in refrigerator and replace damp cloth as needed for about two weeks ... when rind forms dip in wax"

What are your thoughts on the Buttermilk causing the lose knit? Do you know if others found using buttermilk as an  inoculate to be problimatic?
BTW: I checked my notes and the buttermilk had a ph of 4.3 when I mixed it with the milk.

John, thanks again for your help the links are most helpful.

Regards: john

[Cheese Head]

You do have a good name .

There must be holes in the base for whey to drain out plus I assume you are turning your cheeses as you press at a progressively higher pressure which is why you are getting a good tight knit rind formation and knitting on the ends. But the hoops you are using look to be straight stainless steel tubes, no small holed for draining whey out the sides, not good. You should be able to compensate for this by using a course weave cloth or possibly double layer of cloth as a liner. To do this you need a sheet of course cloth lining the hoop, but, cloth does not like to form a cylinder, so after loading your warm cut curds and then placing the correct size follower on the hoop, you need to pull up the cheese cloth vertically around the whole perimeter while pushing down hard on the follower to minimize ridges or lines in the sides of the cheese. Albeit poorly, the cloth around the sides will give a route for whey to escape out of the cheese and down through the cloth. After the first few pressings and turns of the cheese you should be able to remove the cloth for the last pressing to get a smoother rind without the wrinkles from the cloth.

For several different mold/hoop ideas look in the Equipment - Forming Cheese Board, also look at the whey draining ability of Kadova Brand molds which also have a mesh in lid, (hard to see in the picture).

On using buttermilk for a lactic acid starter, yours from pH reading is nice and strong so I don't think an issue, I used buttermilk as a meso starter culture for my first 30 cheese makes without significant problem. I think your problem is a combination of poor whey expulsion routes from side of hoop and one of Francois common problems as listed in post above.

On aging in a damp cloth, that is difficult to get the right humidity level, plus if you are initially drying the cheese this way in a kitchen fridge then it is too cold.

Also, I've heard that another solution to your unsmooth rind for aging is to dip the cheese in 150F water for 1 minute to try and soften and smooth the rind, but I have not tried that.

[Buck47]

Hi John,

Picked up another 4 gal of milk tonight.  Will try your suggestions when making cheese in the morning. Let you know how it goes.

Thanks for your help.

Regards: john

[KosherBaker]

Hey John, looks like you're in pretty good hands with John.

I just wanted to note that those spring type presses are notorious for not being able to generate a whole lot of down force and a couple of your wheels look quite large. So in addition to your hoop being a problem as John has pointed out, the press may be an additional issue. You mentioned that you pressed the cheese at 50lbs. Did that come from the recipe or from this forum? And for what size of hoop/mould was that weight given? As the hoop diameters increase the pressing weight has to increase also.
To mitigate this problem somewhat, search the forum for prepressing, or Pressing Under Whey. As that technique appears to promote a superior knit for the curd all around.

Lastly if you post the hoop diameters for your cheeses above I'm sure the experts around here will be able to tell you right away how much weight each one needs for a Gouda.

[DeejayDebi]

Those are usually air bubble holes. Try doubling your cheese cloth for the first few presses.

[Buck47]

Thanks Debi, will give that a try --- Regards

[pliezar (Ian)]

I have a similar press, Food Grade Plastic instead of Stainless Steel, I have had the same issues to begin with, but at least yours came with instructions.  I added a double layer of cheesecloth to the pressing, I still get a giant seam mark.  When I can get them I use cheesecloth stuffing bags they can be clipped into the hoop for filling and drain really well for me and I get a firm knit too.  I usually buy them at Safeway (Coarse weave) and the ones at Superstore (loblaws) President's Choice Stuffing bags (More like a butter muslin).  I have found them on-line at Bed bath and beyond too.