How to make a cheese press

 

How to make a cheese press

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The stack of weights we used in the Cherry Dream Cheese for our makeshift cheese press worked great, but it was not the most convenient or portable cheese press in the world.

So we made a new cheese press from some pine boards and bungee cords, and it works great.  It also weighs 50 pounds less than the last press.

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It is very simple to make.  Here’s what you need:

  • A 6 inch length of 4 inch diameter ABS pipe
  • A 7 inch square of ¾ inch pine or other wood
  • A 9 inch length of 3 ½ inch by ¾ inch pine board
  • 2 bungee cords, 18 inches long
  • A 4 inch circle cutter for your drill
  • A 5 inch square or larger ¾ inch thick pine board to cut into a 4 inch circle with the circle cutter.
  • 4 eyelet screws with wood-screw points
  • 2 small finishing nails

Cut the 4 inch circle of wood using the circle cutter.  You can use a jig saw instead of the circle cutter, but the circle cutter makes a nice clean round disk.

Nail the disc to the 9 inch board.

Screw in the four eyelets near the corners of the 7 inch square board.

Use some salad oil (Canola, corn, safflower, sunflower, they will all work fine) to waterproof all of the wood parts.  Use plenty of oil, and let it soak into the wood.  You can use a paper towel to spread it around, and some more to wipe off the excess.

The press can be used right away.  The oil will dry and harden over the next few weeks, but it does not need to be dry to use the press.

To use the press, put the pipe in the center, on top of a pad of folded paper towels (to absorb the whey).  Then insert the cheese cloth or a clean piece of an old bed sheet.

Place the curds into the cloth in the pipe, and fold the cloth over the top.

Insert the disk, and pull the bungee cords over the top of the board the disk is attached to.  This will not be particularly easy, since we want something between 20 and 60 pounds of force.  If you aren’t strong enough to do this, cut a bit off the end of the 9 inch board until it is not too much of a bother.  With less pressure, you can just let the cheese press for a longer time.