Cheese making molds

[d40dave]

I am starting to get prepared to make some cheese. I have an old wine cooler for the cheese cave. I will make a cheese press. But I am having problems finding the right cheese mold. I have watched many of Gavin Webber's videos and he has a 6.5" wide, 5.5" tall mold with a follower and many drainage holes that he always uses for the cheeses I want to make. Cheddar, Parmesan, Butter cheese (new to me), etc. I'm not sure if it has a bottom, I think is does but I am not sure if it matters anyway. I'm also not sure if he ships to the US.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a suitable hard cheese mold for 2 1bs of hard cheese. Also does anyone have any suggestions for containers to put the cheese in while it ages in the beer cave?

Also if I make racks for the cheese cave I was thinking of uses clear pine. Would that me OK?

Cheers!

 

[passedpawn]

I am starting to get prepared to make some cheese. I have an old wine cooler for the cheese cave. I will make a cheese press. But I am having problems finding the right cheese mold. I have watched many of Gavin Webber's videos and he has a 6.5" wide, 5.5" tall mold with a follower and many drainage holes that he always uses for the cheeses I want to make. Cheddar, Parmesan, Butter cheese (new to me), etc. I'm not sure if it has a bottom, I think is does but I am not sure if it matters anyway. I'm also not sure if he ships to the US.

Does anyone have a suggestion for a suitable hard cheese mold for 2 1bs of hard cheese. Also does anyone have any suggestions for containers to put the cheese in while it ages in the beer cave?

Also if I make racks for the cheese cave I was thinking of uses clear pine. Would that me OK?

Cheers!

Lots of moulds at cheesemaking.com. If mould doesn't have a bottom, best to set the curds in cheesecloth, then set the cheesecloth into the mould. Works great and makes it simple to flip. I have both types of moulds.

A two pound mould for hard cheese should only be 4-5" in diameter. You need to press hard cheeses with some pressure. Because of the way pressure works, you'll get a LOT more pressure by having a tall/thin mould than you would with a wide one. Pressure is force / area. Reduce diameter, increase the force exponentially.

I think any wood material would be fine. I used red oak slats. I suggest coating it well in mineral oil before first use.

 

[Staestc]

I've run into the same thing for the same reasons. Yes, little green workshop or whatever Gavin's shop site is called does ship to the US, but you will not want to pay the shipping It's $27 to ship! (may be a little less if those prices and shipping are Australian dollars) And the mold he is so fond of does have a bottom and it comes with a follower (if it's the 166 mm one I am thinking of). But like Andrew said, there are a ton of places in the US and Canada that sell similar molds. New England Cheesemaking (cheesemaking.com) has about as good a selection and is competitively priced from all the searching I have been doing. I plan on getting everything I need for several cheeses I want to make from them on a single order in the next week or two.

This mold is similar to Gavin's favorite -> https://cheesemaking.com/collections/cheese-molds-and-presses/products/hard-cheese-mold-large. But keep in mind it's for 5-7 lb cheeses. I don't know why the medium NEC mold is so expensive, and the small mold does not appear to have holes in it at all (well it's bottomless so I guess it has one hole). I have not picked out a mold for hard cheeses yet.

I would worry some about pine since it tends to be sappy but if it's old enough and dry enough it should be fine. Popular has a pretty fine grain and would probably work too.

And BTW, welcome to the forum!

 

[d40dave]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a mold that will work for a hard cheese of around the 2 lb size. I don't want to start out too big as far as batch size goes. I have looked at ppawens posts and maybe he can recommend a specific mold he used for a 2 pound cheddar

 

[Staestc]

Have you looked at https://www.amazon.com/dp/B079WNZW57/?tag=skimlinks_replacement-20

If you are just buying the mold w/ follower it is cheaper on amazon. If you are going to buy several molds and other stuff if is cheaper at the actual site https://cheeseandyogurtmaking.com/c...eese-making-mold-7-cylinder-base-and-follower. Amazon prices for thing with free shipping are always $3 more than the site price, but if you buy several things from the site the shipping charges prorate across the items.

 

[d40dave]

cheesemaking.com has a similar one also available on Amazon with the same $3 markup. I am coming up with a list of things I might want to get from cheesemaking.com, I think I might get 10% off since it's my first purchase. cheesemaking has a lower free shipping amount. I have a lot decisions to make before I buy anything though, thanks for the heads up.

 

[shelly_belly]

For reference, I have this press. the mold is 4x8 inches and here is a 2 gallon cheese. I could barely get all of the curds in at one time. This was pressed at 50 pounds overnight.

 

[Staestc]

For reference, I have this press. the mold is 4x8 inches and here is a 2 gallon cheese. I could barely get all of the curds in at one time. This was pressed at 50 pounds overnight.

Very nice cheese! Where did you source the plastic mesh stuff that is under the cheese? I'm still looking for that.

 

[passedpawn]

Very nice cheese! Where did you source the plastic mesh stuff that is under the cheese? I'm still looking for that.

You can get the mesh stuff at craft stores (JoAnne Fabrics, Michaels). It's used for sewing or knitting or something similar. Mine is blue. Under that is light fixture diverter sheet. You have to buy large (4' x 8') section of it. Home depot, Lowes. That's where I bought mine, and that picture above is almost a duplicate of what I have!

 

[d40dave]

Another thing I need to figure out is what to do about a ripening box. The mesh and diverter seem like a good idea. Now I need to find a good box. I'm having a hard time with that. I went to about 4 stores yesterday and didn't fine anything I liked.

 

[shelly_belly]

Yep. Mine came from Hobby Lobby and Lowes. I copied passedpawn's setup!

 

[d40dave]

Does anyone have a suggestion for a good box to get. Whatever I find is either to small or to big, thanks.

 

[shelly_belly]

I would look at the dollar stores. They have all kinds of food storage containers in all kinds of shapes and sizes. I'm thinking if you have a dedicated cheese cave you may not even need containers.

 

[d40dave]

I did everything I could, well not quite, to try the get the humidity up and couldn't get it past I think 70%. That caused the back of the refrigerator to form a lot of condensation. I will check out the dollar stores, thanks.

 

[bernardsmith]

Tupperware type boxes are great for holding in moisture - and so humidity. Your local supermarket may sell those boxes in plastic or glass.

 

[Staestc]

You can get the mesh stuff at craft stores (JoAnne Fabrics, Michaels). It's used for sewing or knitting or something similar. Mine is blue. Under that is light fixture diverter sheet. You have to buy large (4' x 8') section of it. Home depot, Lowes. That's where I bought mine, and that picture above is almost a duplicate of what I have!

Thanks, I picked up the mesh stuff from JoAnn last week. It's the light diverter stuff I need. I did not know it was light diverter material! I'll be visiting Home Depot today!

By the way, JoAnn also has butter muslin and cheese cloth by the yard as well.

For boxes/mini caves, I found a couple of nice single cheese sized round boxes with latch down lids at Walmart for pretty good prices, so you might want to wander around in there looking. I don't remember the brand right now. I have yet to hit the dollar stores though, so you might want to start there.

 

[passedpawn]

Thanks, I picked up the mesh stuff from JoAnn last week. It's the light diverter stuff I need. I did not know it was light diverter material! I'll be visiting Home Depot today!

By the way, JoAnn also has butter muslin and cheese cloth by the yard as well.

For boxes/mini caves, I found a couple of nice single cheese sized round boxes with latch down lids at Walmart for pretty good prices, so you might want to wander around in there looking. I don't remember the brand right now. I have yet to hit the dollar stores though, so you might want to start there.

I get all my plastic stuff at Target. They have a whole aisle of matching Sterilite containers of every size. I use the ones with the purple handles... I literally have hundreds of them.

 

[shelly_belly]

I did everything I could, well not quite, to try the get the humidity up and couldn't get it past I think 70%. That caused the back of the refrigerator to form a lot of condensation. I will check out the dollar stores, thanks.

My bad. I'm using a chest freezer with metal walls and am having to bring the humidity down. Damp Rid and a PC fan are getting it done.

 

[bernardsmith]

By the way, JoAnn also has butter muslin and cheese cloth by the yard as well.

Have yet to try these but Walmart sells flour sack dishtowels (made of lint free cotton) 28" x 29" I think in sets of 5 for about $4 or $5 a set and the package says that they are good for cheese making (the aisle in the store where they locate them is J-12 but I don't recall the manufacturer's name) A dollar for a cheese cloth is good value for money

 

[shelly_belly]

@bernardsmith I found them. They seem to be well made. They also had a 10 pack for 7 something. Thanks for the tip.

 

[bernardsmith]

That's them, shelly_belly .. and outside of what Walmart pays their workers, this looks like good value for the money for those buying.. So far have only used one to cover a bucket I am using as my primary fermenter for a batch of elderflower wine. Will see how it works when I make some squeaky curd cheese on Monday or Tuesday...

 

[Staestc]

Great find on the Flour Sack towels! I will be in Walmart soon.

Lowes came through with the egg crate diffuser stuff! Have a sheet in the truck

 

[d40dave]

I went to Target today and I couldn't find any Sterilite containers. Passedpawn could you give me the dimensions of your ripening box. I also went to Joann's and they didn't have any butter muslin but they did have unbleached muslin, is that the same thing?

 

[passedpawn]

I went to Target today and I couldn't find any Sterilite containers. Passedpawn could you give me the dimensions of your ripening box. I also went to Joann's and they didn't have any butter muslin but they did have unbleached muslin, is that the same thing?

Hey I’m traveling now. I’ll get back to this post and others. Wednesday.

 

[Inkleg]

Hey I’m traveling now. I’ll get back to this post and others. Wednesday.

Are you @Yooper and the other admins on the HBT yacht heading for Marseille again?

 

[Yooper]

Are you @Yooper and the other admins on the HBT yacht heading for Marseille again?

Not together. I just now got back, and so we've staggered the time on the yacht to give us more privacy. The internet access on the yacht was lacking, so I was off line for four days while they worked on it. I did get a chance to take the helicopter out for a while, though, so that almost made up for it.

 

[Staestc]

Not together. I just now got back, and so we've staggered the time on the yacht to give us more privacy. The internet access on the yacht was lacking, so I was off line for four days while they worked on it. I did get a chance to take the helicopter out for a while, though, so that almost made up for it.

You’re killing me!

 

[Staestc]

I went to Target today and I couldn't find any Sterilite containers. Passedpawn could you give me the dimensions of your ripening box. I also went to Joann's and they didn't have any butter muslin but they did have unbleached muslin, is that the same thing?

I looked up both cheese cloth and the Muslim stuff on the Joann web site. Both that I found are recommended for cheese making, among other things. It’s unlikely anybody in the store would know, so find stuff on their site then write down the info and get them to help you find that item. The unbleached muslin sounds right.

The round container that’s kinda tall, like 5” or more, and the smaller and slightly shorter one I got at Walmart are both Sterlite. Both have latch down lids too. I have not looked at our Target yet to see what they have.

 

[passedpawn]

Not together. I just now got back, and so we've staggered the time on the yacht to give us more privacy. The internet access on the yacht was lacking, so I was off line for four days while they worked on it. I did get a chance to take the helicopter out for a while, though, so that almost made up for it.

I’m actually on a boat at this moment. Staten Island ferry. Haha. Wife and son. And lady liberty. View attachment 595205

 

[jcav]

Have fun and have a safe trip back!

John

 

[Staestc]

Awesome Andrew!

 

[Gadjobrinus]

It's going to seem like I'm a paid shill because I'm always recommending them, lol, but I always loved these guys when I was cheesemaking, used them almost exclusively. Just for something else to look at. Get Culture.

I've had a lot of various humidity/temp control regimes, from very primitive to a sophisticated fogging and temp control system digitally controlled. I made a ton of nice reblochons in just a plastic bin, on plastic matting, with a sponge in a container, refreshed daily. Obviously no control, but using a hydrometer, worked great. Wet rags hanging with the end in water, or just soaked and hanging in the refrigerator, more or less the same result.

Just a few pics of the reb's. You can see different stages. That funny little red cup in the 2nd pic, is actually what I used for the water reservoir, believe it or not. A sponge goes in it. These wheels are freshly pressed.

The whole thing is lidded, and in the temp-controlled fridge. Rebs can be tough, because like epoisse they like air, at the same time, they like humidity. About 55F (higher for washed versions), 95-97% RH. So it was always a game of observing the growth of b. linens and candidum, and exposing the buggers to air, temp and closing/increasing or maintaining the RH accordingly:

But that's just Rebs, epoisse, etc. Others have their needs, as you'll explore. Have fun! Man, reading these threads and seeing my pics, recipes, batch logs....miss it.

BTW, I have a fair amount of pics of various things - "Beaufort" or "Abondance," "tommes" of various varieties, these rebs, presses I've built, rooms, etc. If anyone would like any, please let me know. Be glad to post here if you'd like, or via PM. Just throwing it out there.

 

[Staestc]

Lovely cheeses Paul and good information! Thanks for posting them!