Monday, February 16, 2009

A Pressing Matter

As my cheeses get more complex, they will start to require a cheese press to make. I'm not opposed to buying a press, but that seems a little out of place with the 'do it yourself' nature of this cheese making endeavor. So, I set out to make a simple press.

I picked up a can of tomato juice and a hinge just for this project. The rest of the materials were scrap wood I had lying around, and whatever screws I happened to have. Oh, and dumbbells from my set. Materials cost me $5, and I got a free pitcher of tomato juice in the deal.

I cut a 60 inch length of 2x4 in half, and nailed one half sticking straight up out of a garishly painted piece of plywood I had lying around. The hinge went on about halfway up, and the other half of the 2x4 went on the end of the hinge to serve as an arm. I screwed a small piece of scrap to use as a foot 7 inches along the bottom of the arm, and then screwed in some screws 14 inches past that on the top, so I could rest a dumbbell up there to use as a weight.

I had already cleaned the tomato juice can, and a slightly smaller can that originally held whole tomatoes. The curds, wrapped in cheesecloth, go in the juice can, followed by the whole tomato can. A 10 inch length of wood nestles in the whole tomato can. This whole arrangement is positioned so the upper end of the length of wood rests against the foot on the arm of the press.


Envisioning that without a picture would be pretty hopeless. Here is the press in action, with a 15 lb dumbbell. The further the dumbbell is along the arm, the more pressure it creates.

The whole apparatus is pretty simple and crude, but it is good for a beginner. There are still a few refinements I could do, but it seems to get the job done.

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