My son Kimbo found this lovely little cast iron press at a Cahors boot sale yesterday.
It's a cheese press; which I have every intention of using. It's just a matter of finding some good quality full cream milk, and I'll be in business.
My mother often made 'cream cheese', by leaving naturally curdled milk to drain through muslin; flavourings were added later. I shall probably be using either lemon juice or vinegar (not rennet) to separate the curds and whey, then press to make a semi-hard cheese. Any practical advice would be very welcomed.
We tried it out pressing some grapes; it worked perfectly. Keep watching this space for a future home-made-cheese page.
22 comments:
Should be good - I have made butter but not cheese,.
Check this out - he knows it all and makes it in his home.
http://www.littlegreencheese.com/
The little ebook is great.
I used to make cheese when I kept goats - a soft cream cheese - pretty easy to do. I seem to remember using a house brick as a press!
Gosh, he's got loads of info on his site. I'll have a good look at it later. Thanks.
Tried it once, used white vinegar, 1/4 cup to 8 pints of milk, just ordinary milk, it worked OK, about 1 lb. of soft cheese.
Couldn't find a press though.
I suspect this was originally for goat cheese, there's a lot made around here.
I used an old catering size Nescafe tin, muslin nappy, plywood disc and my husband fashioned threading rods . Lovely hard goats cheese which I sold to the local deli. Changed days! Hung salted curds in muslin nappy to drip, added chives. Delish!
My mother used to make cream cheese out of curdled milk too, but I can't remember what it tasted like…..sounds disgusting!
What a great find! You might use that for all sorts of things. It looks similar to an old tongue press I have. Happy cheese making.
Damn, and I thought you were making cider...
My mother used to mix it with chopped chives and crushed pepper.... it was delicious.
I have a MUCH bigger press for apples, but I need a garden shredder to reduce them to semi pulp.
My mother made cream cheese like that Cro. I used to come in from school and see the little muslin bag hanging on the line and wonder what flavour it would be for tea tonight. She was a frugal housewife, never wasting a thing. Wish I could say the same.
She sounds like my Mum.... NOTHING was wasted.
His main blog is Greening of Gavin and he is a superstar blogger on all things sustainable. He recently met Al Gore at a environmental leadership conference. Im lucky to call him a friend and to have eaten his pizza from his home made cob oven and his magnificent cheese. I also believe his beer is great.
When my son bought it, the man said it could be used for meat.... but we couldn't think what he meant; maybe he meant tongue.
Gran used to make cottage cheese....really good.
Nice looking press. I don't know anything about cheese making though and cant see how a press fits into the process. No doubt you will enlighten me as time goes on.
This is a little off-topic but reading that it was your son Kimbo who found the cheese press, it prompted another memory. My husband told me many years ago that when he was little his mother would buy old appliances from the thrift store. Just a couple dollars and she'd tell him, "Take it apart and put it back together again." It kept him entertained for hours and he learned a lot. ;-)
My mother would not have been so sophisticated!
Brilliant idea..... I'll remember that.
Oh Cro.... I have cheese press envy! I make cheese from time to time but have yet to try to make a hard cheese, I have a cheese press but it is a totally different process to that...Sigh...Good luck with the cheese making, I will be very interested in the results.
Jo in Auckland, NZ
Post a Comment