Hi from alabama

[FarmerJd]

I have never tried it. I've never even heard of it. I guess I could take my big pot and just use it as the base of my press. Do you not use cheese cloth at this point? I am assuming you press it a little (say 2psi) for 15 min without cloth under whey and then take it out and wrap it then put it in the press and press it without the whey. Am i understanding this correctly? I guess this would be useless if I had no holes in my hoop, right. And what is the reason behind this; anyone know?
By the way i actually solved my press problem today. I am going to use a suspension air bag for my press. They use them on 18 wheelers and I be able to control my pressure with a simple regulator. I looked into the air cylinder but a 4" bore would be needed with a 10 inch stroke so that would be too expensive for a homemade cheese press. I am kind of excited. I also looked into vacuum pressing alone. I'll post more on that later. Thanks again for the input.

[DeejayDebi]

Yes use cheese cloth at least for the first few presses. A light weight is all that is needed to get started. I use a gallon jug of whey.

[Sailor Con Queso]

I do NOT use cheesecloth when pressing under whey. Defeats the purpose. You do NOT actually use your press to "press under whey". Just scoop the curds into the mold (submerged in whey) and press lightly with a gloved hand. I work it around and knead to fill in all the nooks and crannies.

AFTER I pull the mold out of the whey, I transfer the hand pressed curds into cheesecloth. And it goes right back into the mold for actual pressing. Among other things, this heats the mold and keeps the curds really warm thru at least the initial pressing. I think this makes a huge difference.

[FarmerJd]

how does this affect the salting? I am sure the salt dissolves into the whey which would decrease the percentage.

[DeejayDebi]

Generally when pressing in whey you salt via a brine bath.

Sailor please explain how keeping the cheese cloth in the mold defeats the purpose? I use the plastic cheesecloth liner in my molds as a colander. I also do the first 15 minutes of light pressing in the whey. But then I am on my toes peeking over the top of the vat too. 

[Sailor Con Queso]

I just want the curds as unrestricted as possible when pressing in the mold under whey. I don't want any folds or wrinkles potentially causing dead spots. I ususally use a closed bottom mold, but it's just as easy to use an open bottom mold under whey. With just a little hand pressing and sitting under it's own weight, it's no problem to remove the loaded mold. So I just don't see an up side to using cheesecloth under whey.

[DeejayDebi]

Ahh I see. Well almost all I use anymore is the kadova style molds so there's no wrinkles. I like to shake the plastic cheesecloth liner to drain and move curds around.

When using a PVC pipe type mold I still use cloth chesse cloth in the whey for the first light press, flip then press lightly again before removing the cheese cloth and remove it for all other pressings - no wrinkles either.

[FarmerJd]

So do you salt brine your cheddar cheese?  I think the salting at the end before pressing is a part of the actual process for most cheddar. it is supposed to enhance whey removal right? I have never heard of brining cheddar but I have thought it would be neat to try it.

[DeejayDebi]

Yes cheddar you salt before pressing.

There are some cheeses that don't get salt before they are pressed, instead they soak for 6 to 36 hours in a salt water brine bath. Depends on the size of the cheese.

[Sailor Con Queso]

kadova style molds would be awesome for pressing under whey.

Salting the curds helps draw out whey, but it also slows down bacterial growth and acid production. Some bacteria are salt intolerant and are probably deactivated, or at least seriously slowed down.

[DeejayDebi]

kadova style molds would be awesome for pressing under whey.

Yes they are!

[Boofer]

FarmerJd - It seems like the heavy-duty press weight you're referencing off that site (thanks for that link) is for 50kg wheels, no? That size of a wheel would need the bigger press weight. I think the 8" wheels don't require that much to get the job done.

Sailor - Wouldn't pressing under whey without the cheesecloth present problems with the curds squeezing through the mold holes?

I have also become a firm (as in curds  ) believer in pressing under whey. Great improvement in my final effort.

-Boofer-

[Sailor Con Queso]

You don't press that hard under whey. When I take it out of the whey, I dress with cheesecloth and press as normal. So, NO the holes are not a problem.

[DeejayDebi]

Boofer if you look at my picture you'll notice I have about 1/2 gallon of whey on each mold. Those molds are 2 kg molds too so you can see you don't need much weight under whey.

[Boofer]

I've been pressing with 10 pounds using cheesecloth in my 8-inch mold. For my next cheese I'll try the "clothing optional" method in the mold.

-Boofer-