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Equipment
Appears in
By Jaclyn Pestka, Wayne Gisslen and Lou Sackett
Published 2010
Because of the acidity of cultured milk, all pots and pans used to heat milk for cheese making must be nonreactive. In commercial food service, this generally means stainless steel. In addition, strainers, ladles, forms, and other utensils must be nonreactive.
Cheesecloth is used to drain and hang cheese and fermented dairy products. Food-service-grade cheesecloth is preferred over domestic because its greater width allows you to work with larger pieces.
The only specialized equipment necessary for making fresh cheeses is perforated cheese forms. Forms are used to drain, press, and shape firm-textured fresh cheeses such as farmer cheese and fromage frais. You can purchase plastic cheese forms from the cheese-making supply companies. Alternatively, you can improvise a cheese form by drilling holes in the bottom of a durable plastic food container. Once in the form, the cheesecloth-wrapped curds are pressed with a small plate or lid weighted with a heavy object.