This is my review of this cheese press*.
So I started a cheddar cheese the other night and tried out my press. I searched around and decided to by the one by Cheesemaking.com. I got it and it was pretty neat looking, but I thought about the price. It's a bit high. I'm sure someone could easily make the same thing about around $100 at the most. However it is very well made. I comes with the press (which is three blocks of wood, base with two metal rods in them; two pieces of wood (yokes), one which you put on top of the cheese to apply pressure, and two springs which go between the two blocks. Then there are two metal blocks in which you put on top of all this which uses friction to hold down and apply pressure as well as a metal mold, drip tray, and metal disk to apply pressure from the top, and two plastic pieces to assist with the pressure.) If you missed all that I'll go into more details later.
How to press your curds into a cheese wheel.
Prepare the press: as with all cheese making ensure your press is as sterile as possible.
Then prepare your curds as directed in your recipe. Next we prepare the press and mold. Dismantle the press. You will now have the base with two metal rods. Place the drip tray in the middle of the rods. Place the mold on top of the drip tray. Line the mold with muslin (you could use cheese cloth if you wanted; muslin will hold up to wear/tear and is more re-useable).
Once the muslin is in place, pure the curds into the press. The mold with the press is designed for 2-4 lbs of cheese at a time. Once your curds are in place, the next part is to start the press. There are two ways you can go about this, one is easier to manage and the other will give your cheese a more "perfect" shape. Your choice of doing A or B below
A) You can lie the extra muslin cloth on top of the curds, then start the pressing process by putting the metal disk on top.
B) You can put the metal disk on top of the curds and lay the muslin cloth on top. I found this a little more difficult to get the disk in with the muslin cloth in the way as it is a fairly tight fit. Your mileage may vary. You will do this a few times (at least for the cheddar it is done three different times see below).
Once the metal disk is in place the round plastic disk on top. Then place the rectangular one on top of that. It should stick out of the top of the mold. Next place the bottom yoke in top of the block. I would recommend lining up the block in the center of the wood as best as possible as well as the round disk for even pressure.
Next put the two springs on the bars, then the top yoke. There is a piece of metal that has makes on it to indicate the pressure on the right side. Place the two locks (mouse side up) on the bars, and resting on the screws on the top of the to prevent marring of the wood. Place something to catch liquids that drain off the drip tray.
Once you have this together, apply a slight amount of pressure on the top bar evenly across both sides until the gauge shows the proper pressure (for cheddar it was 10 lbs for the first press). I recommend watching it for the first 5-10 minutes, as the cheese presses it will loosen the pressure. This first pressure is quick, only 15 minutes to get it into the basic shape. To remove, twist the locks to the side and apply a slight amount of pressure to the top yoke and lift the lock on both sides and remove the springs, and bottom yoke.
Remove the plastic spacers and then push the pressed curds out of the mold (pay attention to which side was up). Undo the muslin, and flip over the pressed curds. (if the muslin was under the metal disk you may notice it was pressed into the curds but it will become more prevalent on the next press) Re-wrap the muslin, then place it back into the mold. This first time putting it back into the mold was easy. Reapply pressure to the curds again after rebuilding the press. This time (for my cheddar) it was 40 lbs of pressure for 12 hours.
I checked periodically that it still had 40 lbs of pressure. Also, every now and then I would tilt the press to let the excess whey drip off and into a dish. After 12 hours repeat the process to flip the cheese. Remember to ensure you have washed your hands and the surface you are working with. I had a little more trouble pushing the curds out of the mold this time. I really noticed the muslin cutting into the cheese at this time, so when I re-setup the pressure I put the metal plate against the cheese instead of the muslin. This time pressure is set to 50 lbs for 24 hours. I ended up doing about 28 hours due to not being home.
All of this was done at room temperature. I won't go into too much detail of the next steps...but basically you let it dry out more at room temperature for a few days, then you wax it and let it sit at ~55 degrees for a period of time. I believe this one will be 2-3 months at which time I will cut it in half, rewax half and wait another 2-3 months.
I'll probably also be making a few more over the next few weeks.
* I've never used any other cheese press and this was the first time I used this one.
** I'll try to get pictures in a tomorrow, my camera isn't working. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures as I was making the cheese.
Got something you want to see me review next?
So I started a cheddar cheese the other night and tried out my press. I searched around and decided to by the one by Cheesemaking.com. I got it and it was pretty neat looking, but I thought about the price. It's a bit high. I'm sure someone could easily make the same thing about around $100 at the most. However it is very well made. I comes with the press (which is three blocks of wood, base with two metal rods in them; two pieces of wood (yokes), one which you put on top of the cheese to apply pressure, and two springs which go between the two blocks. Then there are two metal blocks in which you put on top of all this which uses friction to hold down and apply pressure as well as a metal mold, drip tray, and metal disk to apply pressure from the top, and two plastic pieces to assist with the pressure.) If you missed all that I'll go into more details later.
How to press your curds into a cheese wheel.
Prepare the press: as with all cheese making ensure your press is as sterile as possible.
Then prepare your curds as directed in your recipe. Next we prepare the press and mold. Dismantle the press. You will now have the base with two metal rods. Place the drip tray in the middle of the rods. Place the mold on top of the drip tray. Line the mold with muslin (you could use cheese cloth if you wanted; muslin will hold up to wear/tear and is more re-useable).
Once the muslin is in place, pure the curds into the press. The mold with the press is designed for 2-4 lbs of cheese at a time. Once your curds are in place, the next part is to start the press. There are two ways you can go about this, one is easier to manage and the other will give your cheese a more "perfect" shape. Your choice of doing A or B below
A) You can lie the extra muslin cloth on top of the curds, then start the pressing process by putting the metal disk on top.
B) You can put the metal disk on top of the curds and lay the muslin cloth on top. I found this a little more difficult to get the disk in with the muslin cloth in the way as it is a fairly tight fit. Your mileage may vary. You will do this a few times (at least for the cheddar it is done three different times see below).
Once the metal disk is in place the round plastic disk on top. Then place the rectangular one on top of that. It should stick out of the top of the mold. Next place the bottom yoke in top of the block. I would recommend lining up the block in the center of the wood as best as possible as well as the round disk for even pressure.
Next put the two springs on the bars, then the top yoke. There is a piece of metal that has makes on it to indicate the pressure on the right side. Place the two locks (mouse side up) on the bars, and resting on the screws on the top of the to prevent marring of the wood. Place something to catch liquids that drain off the drip tray.
Once you have this together, apply a slight amount of pressure on the top bar evenly across both sides until the gauge shows the proper pressure (for cheddar it was 10 lbs for the first press). I recommend watching it for the first 5-10 minutes, as the cheese presses it will loosen the pressure. This first pressure is quick, only 15 minutes to get it into the basic shape. To remove, twist the locks to the side and apply a slight amount of pressure to the top yoke and lift the lock on both sides and remove the springs, and bottom yoke.
Remove the plastic spacers and then push the pressed curds out of the mold (pay attention to which side was up). Undo the muslin, and flip over the pressed curds. (if the muslin was under the metal disk you may notice it was pressed into the curds but it will become more prevalent on the next press) Re-wrap the muslin, then place it back into the mold. This first time putting it back into the mold was easy. Reapply pressure to the curds again after rebuilding the press. This time (for my cheddar) it was 40 lbs of pressure for 12 hours.
I checked periodically that it still had 40 lbs of pressure. Also, every now and then I would tilt the press to let the excess whey drip off and into a dish. After 12 hours repeat the process to flip the cheese. Remember to ensure you have washed your hands and the surface you are working with. I had a little more trouble pushing the curds out of the mold this time. I really noticed the muslin cutting into the cheese at this time, so when I re-setup the pressure I put the metal plate against the cheese instead of the muslin. This time pressure is set to 50 lbs for 24 hours. I ended up doing about 28 hours due to not being home.
All of this was done at room temperature. I won't go into too much detail of the next steps...but basically you let it dry out more at room temperature for a few days, then you wax it and let it sit at ~55 degrees for a period of time. I believe this one will be 2-3 months at which time I will cut it in half, rewax half and wait another 2-3 months.
I'll probably also be making a few more over the next few weeks.
* I've never used any other cheese press and this was the first time I used this one.
** I'll try to get pictures in a tomorrow, my camera isn't working. Unfortunately I didn't take pictures as I was making the cheese.
Got something you want to see me review next?
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