Bob Albers in Mandeville, Louisiana has been learning to make cheese since he retired from his career as an electronics engineer. (We interviewed him in August – click here.) He has shared his knowledge with us in 3 previous articles- Creole Cream Cheese, About Cooking Curds and Making a Drying Box. Now, he has tackled the awesome task of making his own curd cutter, and, it appears to be a winner! If you have any questions about it, you can ask him in the comments section at the end of the article and he will be happy to respond.
This photo was taken while Bob was making Farmhouse Cheddar (recipe in Home Cheese Making)
HORIZONTAL CURD CUTTER
By Bob Albers
Some time back, Jerry Pittman submitted a blog article on his horizontal curd cutter (https://blog.cheesemaking.com/making-horizontal-curd-cutter/). Until I saw his, I never knew that I needed one. His original cutter had only 1 horizontal element but according to follow-up posts, he added more. Unfortunately I won’t be able to thank Jerry personally ’till I meet him in that great beyond. May God bless & keep you, Jerry.
I began to think of the problem of cutting the curd horizontally. I reasoned that, instead of using copper tubing, I could get a finer cut using 1/8″ stainless steel rod as the cutting element. I was all set to do just that until I saw a Youtube presentation (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IsmW_XRXCGg) by Gavin Webber of Australia using a curd cutter made by one of is followers (Dave of Manitoba, Canada).
My version pictured here uses a 1/8″ stainless steel rod bent to form the frame, a wooden bar measuring ¾” by 1″ by 8½” to form the handle and 8 lb. test fishing line to form the cutters. The stainless steel frame is notched at 1/2″ intervals from the bottom for 9½.” There is a gap of 1½” between the last string & the handle to allow an easy grip. The strings are knotted at each notch and locked in place with cyclo analine (krazy glue). It is food safe.
The cutter is inserted into the curd, rotated for 1 turn about the center of the pot and withdrawn. Now its time for the vertical cutting.
