I have to say that I feel I am pretty good at making do. There is a
satisfaction in finding a workaround to a problem, especially when it involves
not having to buy something. In my Tons of Milk post, I showed you my making-do way of pressing cheese with my rigged cheese press. Unfortunately, the precarious stacking of jars to weight the curds eventually could prove disastrous at times, such as when they toppled over. When I broke a large jar containing my arrowroot powder, I decided it was time to invest in a proper cheese press.
Now that I've had a chance to use it, I can tell you that I like it better
than anything I've tried previously. It's very heavy-duty. I like the crank
and the way it applies even pressure to press the cheese. I admit I was
skeptical that it would hold a two-gallon cheese, but it does.
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Freshly pressed cheese from two gallons of milk. It weighs 2 pounds, 2
ounces.
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The mold for this one has no bottom so whey can't collect in its bottom.
It sits on a base which has a spout for draining the whey.
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I set the press in a baking sheet to catch the excess whey.
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I'm still learning how to use it, as in how much to turn the crank
and how to best wrap the curds in cheesecloth. For some reason my cheeses always have
indentations of the folds of the cheesecloth.
My other hesitation for making hard cheeses has been my climate. During milk
season, it can get much too hot for proper aging of cheese, including in my
pantry. Many cheese makers have a small fridge or "cheese cave," in which a
consistent temp of between 45 and 55°F (7 to 13°C) can be maintained. I just
didn't think I had room for one. But I did figure out that I can maintain 45°F
(7°C) in the containers in the top of my
solar powered chest fridge.
Trouble is, it can't hold more than four cheese. So I started looking around
for something with which I could make a cheese cave. The best option was a
beverage cooler. It can be set to the required temps and is much cheaper than
a wine cooler. I found one on special buy at
Home Depot for half the price of a similar size at Lowes.
But where would I put it? I have no room for it in the kitchen, so the pantry seemed the best place.
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Potential home for a cheese cave?
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My concern was the compressor putting out heat and heating the pantry more
than it already gets during summer. When I
kept my freezer and second fridge in the pantry, they added quite a bit of heat. This little fridge is smaller, but still, I had an idea.
The vent cover for the unused ductwork under the house is the same width
as the cooler.
I had seen previously, where someone vented their fridge this way. Could I do
it too?
Dan made a styrofoam seal the same size as the blower opening in the back of
the cooler. It fit perfectly and will hopefully help exhaust heat from the fridge compressor out of the pantry.
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Cheese sizes from the old press will only fit 3 cheeses
per shelf.
But the shelves will hold 4 from the new press.
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The challenge now is keeping up the proper humidity for the cheeses. Cheese likes something like 90% humidity, so to maintain that, I'm experimenting.
At the moment, I'm contemplating what to do with that corner in the pantry. I can't put back the old shelf unit back because they are now too wide. The cheese cave takes up part of the space needed for their depth, so I'll need
something narrower. That's my next project.
Making do is great, but sometimes there's a greater need for proper equipment. "Food First" is one of our homestead mottos, and if this helps preserve our milk better, I've made a wise investment.
