Hi, my name is Shawna and I am in N.E. Oklahoma, USA.
I raise Lamancha dairy goats (for the past 8 to 10 years) and I also have a dairy cow. I have made soft cheeses, yogurt, mozzarella, cajeta, ice cream, and I have wanted to make hard cheeses for a while. I am finally diving in and am going to get a dutch style press as I do not like the small cheese press with pressure gauge that I have. I love cheese!!!
Any ideas on the best place to buy a dutch style press? I don't think I have the wood working skills to make one. I have been eyeing one, but they are spendy!
I purchased a 20 bottle wine fridge that I am hoping to turn into a cheese cave, just have to figure out how.
I look forward to learning, and jumping into my hard cheese making adventure.
Shawna Z
Welcome. You have goats and a cow!! Now I see why you moved from Texas to Oklahoma! That's just awesome.
I plan on building a dutch press, given the prices of buying one. If you look at all the press builds on this site you can find some really simple to build but really effective ideas. Spring presses are very simple to build as well, generally only needing a few holes drilled.
If you are going to age your cheese in tupperware, you don't need to do anything to your wine fridge except set the temperature. If you are going to age cheeses outside of boxes you just need to deal with keeping the humidity up. If it's a compressor style fridge, it tends to dry everything out. If it's a thermoelectric it's easier to keep humidity levels up. I have a thermoelectric, but it's full of cigars at 70% humidity. Not sure what I am going to do for a cheese cave yet. Look at all the cave ideas on this site and you will come up with how to manage the humidity in yours.
Well I actually moved from Texas to Idaho to help run a family business.....brrrrr. NO no no! So moved down to Oklahoma it's not Texas but close.
I ordered a sturdy press last night and hot confirmation of shipping this morning.
Good to know on the wine fridge, I will look into containers more, thank you.
Welcome Shawhee
Welcome to the Forum Shawhee