Pressing cheese

Pressing is how some cheeses become one piece. FAO’s drainage stage: after cutting and stirring, the coagulum is moulded and, depending on the kind of cheese, pressed ¹. Their teaching contrast: a semi-hard ripened cheese is pressed for a short time, then stored to ripen; they give that style a water content of 40–50% and a fat content of 20–35% as a training range ¹. Fresh cheeses may drain in cloth with little or no press.

U.S. cheddar identity ends the vat with curd “salted, stirred, further drained, and pressed into forms” ². Pasta filata is shaped while hot instead; see Pasta filata.

Pressure is a moisture tool #

Whey still in the curd after the vat will sour the paste if you trap it ¹. Pressure knits particles and squeezes liquid through mould holes. FAO’s small-scale press notes: adjust pressure often as the cheese shrinks; materials must be non-poisonous, easy to clean, strong enough, and checkable ¹. That is workshop practice, not a universal psi chart.

CDR: finished moisture, fat, pH, and salt are the composition you verify ³. Pressing cannot rescue a curd that was never cooked dry enough, and over-pressing a style that wanted an open paste is a different cheese. See Curd.

What to notice #

Look for whey running clear from the mould, then slowing. The wheel should fill the form without large pockets. A hollow, poorly knit block is a press or fill failure that Affinage will not close. Feel: a pressed cheddar-family paste is already firmer than a ladled bloomy cheese at the same age.

Salt may go in before the press (cheddar mill) or after (brine). That order is Salting cheese. Return to Cheese.