Got a bit of a dilemma.
When a recipe says to press the cheese at a certain pressure, say 10 lbs, we find a big rock outside and weigh it and then press the cheese with this ie the cheese in the mold with a follower, a tin on top of it and the rock sitting on a plank that is counterbalanced with another rock and some big books. When the pressure requirement changes, we simply find a bigger rock.
Now I was wondering, when I use a larger mold we are actually not getting ten pounds of pressure (the snowshoe effect). Does anyone know the formula for calculating pressure or is it the P = Force divided by area.
Might have to get some bigger rocks till the tradie in the house makes me a proper press!
There are many previous threads on this subject. The "Snowshoe" effect you mentioned is related to PSI on the cheese. The bottom line is, depending upon the style of cheese you are making, as the mold gets wider you will need to find some very large rocks.
QuoteP = Force divided by area.
That's perfectly correct !!!
Country Girl, There are tons of discussions here. Just search the forum for PSI.