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My new cheese press

Started by MrsKK, November 11, 2011, 02:19:31 PM

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MrsKK

I made myself a new cheese press yesterday, using 1 x 12 pine and one inch pine dowels.  1/2 inch x 1 1/2 inch fluted birch dowels became the feet for the bottom board, so now my press won't be sitting in whey.

I still need to find a new pan to fit this press.  Probably a broiler pan will fit just right.  I'll punch holes along the outer edge to funnel whey over the edge of the bottom board.  I sit the whole thing in a boot tray to catch the whey.

The dowels are a bit tall, as I cut the 4 foot sections in half, but I think I will leave it as is.  I made this press wide enough to hold two of my 6 inch cheese molds - thinking ahead to when she is fresh and giving me 5 gallons of milk a day.


I put 9 feet on the bottom board, wanting to give it lots of support. 

Boofer

'Tis a thing of beauty.... :)

Press on, Karen!

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

MrsKK

I've got a Lancashire making right now, so it will get it's first trial run this afternoon.

sstrantz

Very nice photos!

When I was using a pressing method similar to this I had the worst time keeping the weights from falling, sliding, etc. off of the top.   (Of course this almost always happened somewhere between 1:00 am - 4:00 am...>:(  )

Do you have a secret - or at least some tips - to help keep those weights up there where they belong? 

OzzieCheese

I agree... what a thing of beatuy.  Isn't it wonderful when not only do we make our own chesse but the tools to make it as well.

--Mal
Usually if one person asks a question then 10 are waiting for the answer - Please ask !

wharris

There is a special sense of satisfaction when we build our own tools.

Those  that just buy their tools will not get that sense.   Well done.


MrsKK

Thanks for all the feedback!  I sure learned a lot from making my first one and this one really came together quite quickly, all considered.  I should have mentioned that I rubbed it down with a blend of carnauba wax, sweet almond, olive, and coconut oils to help protect the wood.  I'll give it that treatment after every use.  A member on another forum suggested using rubber cane tips on the bottoms of the dowels to prevent them from soaking up the whey.  I'll have to buy some.

My Lancashire cheese is still in the press.  I bought a dish drain mat to run the whey off into the boot tray I put under the press and it works really well, except that there were grooves in the bottom of the cheese when I flipped it - the drain mat has ridges on it.  I really think the grooves will go away while the cheese is ageing, probably within the first days of flipping it while it is drying.

The looser holes for the dowels work really well - the boards move freely where my earlier effort was tight and I had to put some muscle into getting it all put together.  Sometimes I wonder if my cheese got pressed properly because of it.

All in all, I give this design a thumbs-up.