Cheese press

[melco]

I want to begin making hard cheeses. What do you all use for a cheese press. Favorite style, brand?? Thanks.

[Deleted]

I just used a weight to press the cheese, I have a pot that has an insert for pasta, I put the cheese in that and added weights. Once I really get into making cheese ( I get my own cow ) I will make this



schmidling.com/press.htm

[Awnry Abe]

I started with a spring loaded press from Cheesemaking.com and now use a Dutch lever-style press. I much prefer the Dutch lever press because it does not loose weight as whey is released. That was a constant battle with our spring press. Plus, I don't think the spring version can hold a light weight very well. A common point of failure for us early on was that we pressed too hard too fast to compensate, causing a tight-knit curd that trapped too much moisture. 

[Melissa]

I bought a stainless steel kitchen tool caddy from Walmart, drilled some holes all around the bottom, it came with a plastic divider that had a round bottom. I took the upper part off and just use the flat disc, which I lay on the top of the cheese and place some metal weights on it. Cost was about $6, I already had the weights.

[manygoatsnmore]

Such good ideas! I've been looking at what I already have on hand to turn into a cheese press. I have one of those stock pot inserts. I have a tall, skinny stock pot that I could drill holes in, and it would be easy enough to make a disc to set on top of either one. Getting my thinking cap on, for sure.

[Melissa]

A plate works well if you have the right size.

[joanie]

Melissa, how big of a batch of cheese fits in that? It looks like a great, easy way to make a press.

[Melissa]

I have two different sizes, the larger one will work with about 2 1/2 gallons of milk, the smaller does better with 1 1/2 gallons. If I have more milk I just divide it between them because I actually have two of each size so I can do four cheeses at once if I have a lot of milk.

[willowgirl]

Numb uses two cutting boards and presses them together with furniture clamps.

[wildhorseluvr]

Jan 3, 2016 17:29:09 GMT @redfish said:

I use a 3 lb sour cream container with holes drilled in it. Cut a piece out of an old plastic cutting board that I never use to fit inside and large tin can, empty, that I that I set on top of the plastic piece. Then I put weights on top of the can. The weights are from an old weight set.

One of the side effects left over from my cardiac arrests is that sometimes I don't read things quite right, the words seem to disconnect somehow. This can make for some interesting topics. I just spent the last few minutes trying to figure out how you managed to sit on top of the tin can on your cheese press. And how long you had to sit there.