I placed the scale on the deck of the press without the hoop and just had the follower with spring. I used tare to zero the scale with the follower and spring,, I then removed the slack and had the screw just making contact with the spring and maybe had .2 oz showing on the scale, I turned it half turn and wrote the reading down, I continued to make not of the scale for every half turn,, till the scale went error after 12 lbs.. for me I came up with 1 turn equals 4lbs,,,2 turns came to 8.4 etc etc based n these numbers when it called out for 44lbs I turned the screw 11 times… still a guess but should be close……

Hi Sarah-Jane

Unfortunately I can’t tell you what weight your press is pressing at based on where it is screwed down because every cheese press is different and the ‘turn’ on one press can differ wildly from the ‘turn’ on another press. Also, a screw down press is difficult to accurately measure in terms of weight. I personally don’t have the technical know how to do so. Do you access to the person who made the press? It would be worth asking them what their opinion is if so.

There are specific waxes available for purchase, which are appropriate for cheese making. These waxes are more pliable and won’t become brittle in colder temperatures. Search your local area for online or physical cheese making supply stores and they will definitely have a product for you.

Hi Gemma

I have ended up with a mix of cheeses through the same cross contamination. The most memorable being a blue Gouda. Ops!!

We still ate it though : )

Hi David

You can absolutely use a smaller amount but keep in mind that size of the resulting cheese, how it will fit in the press you use and also how it will dry and age in a smaller block.

Your pressing weights will definitely need to be reduced depending on your amounts. That’s not to say that 5 litres should have half the pressing weight. You still need to provide enough weight to properly press the curds and knit them together. I have worked on reducing the weight by a quarter (without exact instructions) in the past when reducing recipe volumes and this seems to have worked well.

As for the amounts of rennet, that depends on your manufacturers advice. They should provide a per litre/per gallon measure amount or the volume that their packet or dose will coagulate. You can work it down from that.