# cheese size and pressure



## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Dh wants to build me a cheese press. All the recipes I have seen say to use some many pounds of pressure for so long. Only DH, engineer, says unless they said so many pounds in a mold so big- it isn't really pressure, it is force. So you are applying 40 lbs of force (to be ever so exact). 

So what are we missing? I don't see a mold size specified in the recipes. Is it pressure that is being exerted on the cheese or just force? Does the mold size make a difference in how much force needs to be placed on the cheese? Or is an amount of force enough for any size?

Can you connect me to some information on this topic? Any help is greatly appreciated.


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## suzyhomemaker09 (Sep 24, 2004)

Most molds are fairly specific for the type of cheese you are making.
But there will always be exceptions.


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

So, buy the mold and go by pressure that the mold directions suggest? Is exact pressure that important, or just force in general?


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## goto10 (Oct 5, 2009)

In practice, it's still pressure even if you don't know the total area of the mold. Your husband may be splitting hairs in what to call it. I would just say get some standard mold sizes(4 or 6") and follow some general directions and see what you get then adjust if needed. Nothing wrong with trial and error Sometimes people make things overly complicated so they obtain the most perfect slice of cheese known to man but you have to understand people were successfully making cheese thousands of years ago with molds and presses made from wood and stones. I'm pretty sure they weren't pondering whether they were exerting pressure or force.


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## woodsman (Dec 8, 2008)

I'm building a press now that has a lever extending about 18" over the side of the mold, with holes drilled through every inch to hang a weight from. This way I will be able to easily adjust the pressing force depending where the weight is hanging.


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## BlackWillowFarm (Mar 24, 2008)

You'll find the instructions for pressing in your cheesemaking books. A cheese mold is different than a press. The mold is what will give your cheese it's final shape while the press is used to express whey and knit the curds together. For hard and semi-hard cheeses you will line your _press_ with cheesecloth and use it's shape as your mold. 

With the bit of practice I've had making colby cheese over the past year and a half, I've come to learn that the pressing part isn't as fussy as I thought it would be. My current press for four pound batches of cheese is my dutch oven with a steamer basket. I line the basket with cheesecloth, put the basket back on the pan, put my curds in, cover them with a dinner plate follower, then fold the cheesecloth up and over the plate. Then I use a quart canning jar standing upright with bungee cords strapped over the top and hooked onto the dutch oven handles as my "weighted" press. It makes much better cheese than my little two pound, screw type press. 

Here's a good forum for cheesemakers. Prepare to be overwhelmed.

http://www.cheeseforum.org/


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## Callieslamb (Feb 27, 2007)

Well, he might be splitting hairs, but it's what makes him good at what he does. If he is building the press he needs to understand exactly how it is supposed to work. does a cheese really need, say, 10 lbs per sq in? Or is they just how they say "about 10 pounds". Or is that just if you want exactly the same results each time? 

From what I have found - molds are made with specific ratios of height to width. That si waht determines teh amount of pressure. SO you can use any mold, just adjust the pressure according to size. Ideally, molds will have that specific ratio for the specific cheese types. I am not sure my tastebuds can taste the difference.


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