The Cheese Thread

[seamad]

Yardy,

Just built it from scratch.

Got a chopping board from woolies with drainage grooves for ten bucks, figured 280 square looked ok. That meant I needed the compression arm to be 140 mm from pivot point,which gives an arm length of 700 to give the 5:1 ratio. Then need to make base long enough zo it wont tip over when loaded. All the ones i had seen were square or rectangle zhaped which i thought are a bit boring, also i wanted to use light wr cedar for frame so triangle shape a bit stiffer.
In the good books now.
Cheers

Sean

 

[seamad]

capretta Posted Today, 02:25 PM
i myself used some dumbell weights in food grade plastic bags on top for my light press. didnt look very beautiful but it did the job wink.gif


I started this way too but found to make cheddars you need a lot of pressure. The best way to achieve this is a lever arm or the very nice looking pneumatic press like Andrew QLD has.

Stated pressures for various cheeses varies widely dependent on the source. The best cheese making site I've found for a very technical view is this:

http://www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/cheese/welcom.htm

This is a uni site aimed at professional cheesemakers so it is very technical, but I just like to know as much info as I can on stuff like this, a bit like all grain brewing.

The good Prof says on this site that cheddars need 0.4kg/cm2 to start then 24 hr @ 1.4kg/cm2. For a small 10cm mould that means @ 110kg, obviously a lot more for bigger moulds.

Not saying you can't make a good cheese without high pressure though, just it may be better with it.

cheers

Sean

 

[seamad]

Yardy, we started with that kit too. Very good to start with. Check out cheeselinks for more stuff when you get a bit of practice.

If you haven't got a cheese making book check this one out:

http://www.artisancheesemakingathome.com/


We've got this one and the Rikki Carrol one, but IMO this one is heaps better. A bit more in depth plus a lot more tasty recipes too.

cheers

Sean

 

[yardy]

Yardy,

Just built it from scratch.

Got a chopping board from woolies with drainage grooves for ten bucks, figured 280 square looked ok. That meant I needed the compression arm to be 140 mm from pivot point,which gives an arm length of 700 to give the 5:1 ratio. Then need to make base long enough zo it wont tip over when loaded. All the ones i had seen were square or rectangle zhaped which i thought are a bit boring, also i wanted to use light wr cedar for frame so triangle shape a bit stiffer.
In the good books now.
Cheers

Sean

Yardy, we started with that kit too. Very good to start with. Check out cheeselinks for more stuff when you get a bit of practice.

If you haven't got a cheese making book check this one out:

http://www.artisancheesemakingathome.com/


We've got this one and the Rikki Carrol one, but IMO this one is heaps better. A bit more in depth plus a lot more tasty recipes too.

cheers

Sean

Thanks Sean, we looked at the books online yesterday and had bookmarked that one so we'll get it, saw it for about $14 somewhere :icon_cheers:

we weren't sure if that was a decent kit or not so that's reassuring to know :icon_cheers:

cheers

Yard

will probably post a pic of a horribly disfigured cheese later on in the week

 

[Pollux]

Pollux's wife here (made my first mozzarella yesterday and drooling at the blues in this thread!), what do you guys use to wrap your blues/bries etc? is it just regular aluminium foil? so tempted to buy some good quality blue and keep a chunk to make a yummy blue... and thanks for all the tips about different types of milk, thinking I might see if I can hunt down some of the "cleopatra's bathing milk" (raw milk )to work with... if not, then I'll try the parmalat stuff.. thanks in advance (and thanks to my hubby for letting me on here )

 

[seamad]

Hello pollux' wife,
Have a look at cheeselinks, they have special paper for wrapping cheese plus a good range of molds/ moulds

Cheers
Sean

 

[Pollux]

thanks for the heads up, will check them out..

cheers, Ang, (Pollux's wife)

 

[keezawitch]

Pollux's wife here (made my first mozzarella yesterday and drooling at the blues in this thread!), what do you guys use to wrap your blues/bries etc? is it just regular aluminium foil? so tempted to buy some good quality blue and keep a chunk to make a yummy blue... and thanks for all the tips about different types of milk, thinking I might see if I can hunt down some of the "cleopatra's bathing milk" (raw milk )to work with... if not, then I'll try the parmalat stuff.. thanks in advance (and thanks to my hubby for letting me on here )

Hi, my home cheesemaking book shows you how to wrap your cheeses using sterile strips of line, you cut 2 rounds slightly larger than cheese, cut strips slightly wider then put top and bottom on and wrap strips around sides. hope that helps.

 

[keezawitch]

Hi, I am new to this forum, jioned up because I have started to brew and to my delight one of the members told me about this cheese thread, its great I have started making cheeses from fresh goat milk as I have a milking goat and find it a great way to use the milk up, I anyone is interested there is a new cheese making supply shop just opened in nth sydney, it has an online shop also, the name is cheesemakingworks. I havent brought any suppliers through them but thinking about it. happy cheese making

 

[jyo]

I wish I had not found this thread.....

Those cheeses look great BTW!

 

[keezawitch]

I wish I had not found this thread.....

Those cheeses look great BTW!

make you drool don't they

 

[keezawitch]

Im really starting to look into this and gear up...... and found this forum and joined.

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php

cheers
[/quote

the cheeseforum is really good, i have managed to swap some fresh goat milk for a fruit tree I wanted with a local member, hope to see you on there too

 

[Tommu-Hiid]

I have no idea if this is a good price or not but just came across this:

Aroma Diffuser & Humidifier $35

 

[keezawitch]

I have just waxed my first goatmilk cheddar, god i hope it tastes good.

 

[manticle]

I have just waxed my first goat.

Damn hairy goats. Hope it was back, crack, and sack. Don't want any spider legs at the beach.

 

[brettprevans]

I recon a bulk buy on cheese making gear would get a big response on here. I know id be interestrd

 

[benno1973]

I have just waxed my first goatmilk cheddar, god i hope it tastes good.

Nice one! Was it the recipe out of the Home Cheesemaking Book by Ricki Carroll? I'm getting 10L of whole goats milk next week and I'm keen to try that recipe. I just made a farmhouse cheddar on the weekend, about to wax it tomorrow...

 

[ledgenko]

Damn hairy goats. Hope it was back, crack, and sack. Don't want any spider legs at the beach.

Pubes make eating cheese wrong !!!

 

[keezawitch]

Damn hairy goats. Hope it was back, crack, and sack. Don't want any spider legs at the beach.

well that gave me a laugh :lol:

 

[manticle]

Good.

Getting very interested in adding cheesemaking to my list of things.

Last year I made my own fettucine to accompany a carbonara made with my own pancetta, eggs from a relative's backyard and home grown parsley (cream, garlic and parmesan bought). The more ingredients I can contribute either locally or from my own hands, the happier I am with the results.

So - next winter - cheese and salami.