This post is Part 6 of the continued basic home cheese making instructions. See the Curd Nerd Beginner Page or the Basic Instructions category for previous parts.
Pressing your cheese is not only an important part of shaping the cheese but is also important in creating the texture and as part of the aging process.
What Cheese Needs Pressing
Soft cheeses need either no pressing, are pressed under their own weight or have minimal light weight applied to form the cheese.
Hard cheese on the other hand must be pressed and after your cheese has been through each of the steps to get to the point of having curds ready to turn into cheese, you need to apply enough weight in a way that will knit the curds, expel any extra whey and create the shape of your final product.