Hi all,
Can someone please clarify mould capacities for me. When a mould is classed as say 2kg, are we talking the final cheese weight is what the mould is suitable for? How do you work out what capacity mould is needed for say a 4 gallon (15 litre) make? Do you estimate based on an expected yield from the milk for the cheese type? I'm just a little confused.
Also, does anyone know where to get larger moulds in Australia, or do you order in from overseas? I'm not ready for anything like this right now, just thinking down the track.
Thanks.
Shane
Hi Shane. Mal and some of the others down under there with you can answer your last question. Moulds are pretty light so getting from overseas may not be overly expensive.
Typically you will yield about 1/8 of you milk in cheese on a weight basis, so 4 gal. should yield about 4 lb (or 2 kg.) depending on type of cheese. Freshly-pressed cheese has a density slightly higher than milk (1.0 to 1.1 kg / litre) so you can use some simple geometry to find the your desired mould diameter and height.
I put together the attached spreadsheet for sizing straight-sided cylindrical moulds. I did this pretty quick so there may be some errors :( and I wouldn't be surprised there are better ones in the forum. I used a x2 factor on mould height to fit all the curds in, but a lot will depend on curd size and density (higher for blues in particular).
Thanks John. That is brilliant. Your spreadsheet is excellent. That will take some of the guess work out out it.
Shane
Hi Shane,
I suppose thats a good question - what is a 2 Kg mold (is it Mould or Mold ?) - Form. I always thought that it meant the amount of unpressed curds it could hold. But, I think thats a bit simplistic. I'll use the Blue I made as an example, it was 10 litres of milk but with a Milk to Curd return percentage of about 12% - with a really creamy milk and added cream the curd weighed just over 1300 gms and with a little brute force and ignorance managed to force it into a supposed 800 gm mold - with a little hockey puck size leftover, where the Caerphilly I made on the weekend after milling the curd only just fit in the 2Kg mold I use.
I can ask Valerie - Green living Australia - she has just got some large molds but without a follower (they arn't advertised) - not quite sure how big it is but the 165 mm one they have advertised fits inside it.
-- Mal
Thanks Mal. Yeah I'm a little puzzled by the weight on the mould descriptions. I made a Caerphilly from 9L of milk with the final pressed weight being just over 1kg. I used a 2kg mould and struggled to fit all of the curds into the mould. I had to keep pressing a little to try and get the lot in. I also have a 1kg basket style plastic mould and it is tiny. I'm not sure what to make in it.
I'd be interested in hearing whether GLA have anything bigger. From what I've been reading a large tomme style mould would be a handy one to have.
Shane
I can't take credit for the idea, but I really like the "emergency mould volume extender"... ;-)
It has helped me a couple of times when the mould wasn't quite big enough. Can only be used for non-pressed cheeses though...
:-) Danbo
Danbo that is a great solution for non pressed cheeses. What would you have done with those extra curds if you hadn't known about that?
Shane
Hi Shane,
I had a smaller mould ready - just in case... But I'm still very grateful for the extender tip that someone posted in this forum.
:-) Danbo
Very good. Is your mould just a plastic pipe?
Shane
Yes, this one is just an ordinary hoop with drain holes (food grade).
Thanks. From the small preview it looks no drain holes, but when loading up the full image you can see them.
Shane