Cheese Press Pressure Question

[beewench]

I have the Hoegger Maplewood Cheese Press, and I am trying to figure out how I know what the pounds of pressure is when I am making hard cheese?

Thanks!

-=Sarah
www.beewenchfarm.com

[suzyhomemaker09]

Sorry to say that this little thing seems to be a $40 waste....
If you don't have a press that is calibrated to show you the pressure it's set at than a free-form press seems to be proper...free-form presses are measured by the amount of weight put on it...I don't see why this thing would even be used....If you are trying to figure out how much pressure you need for a certain recipe that should be *IN* the recipe itself...press at X lbs for Z period etc.

[April]

I think Sarah's talking about this press: http://www.hoeggerfarmyard.com/xcart...ese-Press.html

I don't understand quite how that little pressure gauge thingy (it's a technical term) works. But yeah, the pressure requirements for the cheese you're making should be in the recipe. Our standard "house" cheese uses 15 pounds for 15 minutes, then flip. I do that three times, then 30 pounds for however long it takes me to get it out of the press. That's usually overnight, but at least 6 hours.

[Smolt]

Most home cheese making recipes give weight not pressure, but many recipes call it pressure instead of weight. To figure it out try this http://sturdypress.com/?page_id=201

[Hollowdweller]

I used to have one of those. Didn't like it.

I wound up removing the moulds from the press and using bricks or a jar of water on top of the followers.

If you screwed the thing down tight then the cheese would compress and be loose.

If you put it down loose and gradually tighten over a few days same thing.

Every cheese wound up being too hard and dry.

I think a press where you actually hang a weight off of it that exerts a mild but constant pressure is better like the "off the wall" type press.

[nzw tom]

I used my homemade press for the first time and it worked great. Cost me about $20 to make. I bought the weights at a garage sale.