Hey, CF! I'm getting ready to try my hand at my first pressed cheese, and it will be a Gruyere. The largest molds I have currently are 5". Using store-bought pasteurized and homogenized milk, how much milk should I expect to use to fill one mold? I know that this won't be the ideal size for this type of cheese, but I'm going to run with the gear I have right now, and if nothing else, will get some practice with the process of cooking curds, pressing, and caring for a longer aging cheese.
Thanks in advance for your input!
Rich
The spec is usually on the website where you bought it. Assume about 1pd of cheese per gallon milk.
It really varies depending on milk quality, use of calcium chloride, and the recepie (how much whey the curd retains). How tall is your mold? I would guess around 2 to 3 gal would do it and yes average yield is 1lb per gallon
I have a mould slightly under 5 inches diameter, The largest hard cheeses which I do in it use 8 litres of milk (about 2 gallons).
Thanks, everyone! It's interesting to do the math, since the recipe I'm going to use is for 2 gallons and calls for an 8 inch mold.
I'm going to give it a run, and will have an extra sanitized mold standing by in case I've got more curds than volume! :)
Rich
....I'll post details elsewhere (since I changed gears and made a Gouda), but let's just say that 2 gallons of milk filled that poor little 5" mold to the brim! :)
Got 'er done, though, and it's pressing now. Fun stuff!
R