This may seem simplistic, but if I am making a cutting board cheese press, and making hoops from pvc (I have read all the threads pro/con) do I need a bottom for my hoop, or is that what the pie tin drainer is for?
That's a good question!
So far I have seen no-one make a bottom, but the board on the bottom needs to have some small holes in it to allow whey drainage out of the bottom of the cheese. For mine I put that piece in a 9" square cake pan but the the whey gets stuck leaving the bottom of the holes plus initially I get lots of whey that I have to drain off. I think a better drainage solution is the hoop on a drilled board on a plastic mat in a cake pan. Would allow better drainage and higher standoff.
When using PVC tubes for cheese molds I always made bottoms for one reason - it gets the whey, off of the cheese better. I also used cutting boards for the base and liked to cut shallow groves to allow the whey to run off and away from the cheese.
I put the tube in glass tray and remove the excess whey with a syringe. Yes, it looks that I am preaty patient ;).
Thank you everyone! Alex, I am nowhere near that patient!!! >:D I had forgotten about the draining mats. Of course! Oh, and one other quick question? what size holes did you drill?
Here's picture of mine for my 6" diameter PVC hoop. Piece of cut off cutting board, holes are about 3/32" or 2 mm diameter.
Probably I should drill more holes but I haven't used it for a while as I'm now using Kadova Brand Gouda shaped molds.
are you having better luck with the kadova molds vs. pvc cheese hoops? btw, the picture/post answered my question perfectly...thanks!
Welcome, not really better luck but more pressional looking cheeses and they are easier to work with as no cloth, but they are expensive. There's a bunch of info on them in the Kadova Mold threads.