The type of press you show is, in my (and others) opinions, one of the worst kind out there.  It is very hard to get correct pressures and a hassle to take apart and re-set when you're turning your cheeses!  Most of us that have been making cheese for awhile question whether the sellers of those kinds of presses have ever made cheese!

When I started out making cheese, I didn't buy any press, but just used direct weight on top of my followers.  I didn't want to put any money into it until I was sure I wanted to continue making cheese!  

After looking around a bit,  the first press I bought was the "Wheeler Press" that NEC sells.  (I'll post some photos when I get home… this is the one with the springs between two top horizontal wood pieces.)  The Wheeler Press has the problem that you have to monitor it frequently to be sure the weight stays constant (just like you stated regarding the press you have).  As the cheese compresses, the springs become longer and the pressure lowers.  The other problem with spring presses is that you only have a guess as to what weight is actually on your cheese.  The little guages are only approximate.  As the springs age, they lose some of their "springiness", and become even less accurate over time.  All that being said, I think the Wheeler Press is a relatively good option for home cheese makers that don't make a lot of cheese and don't mind having to monitor their cheese press for weight.

And now, for the GREAT CHEESE PRESS:
The Dutch Cheese Press is, hands down, the best for maintaing even pressing weights in the home cheese-making environment using very little weight as it uses a lever.  There are a couple of them out there on the market right now that work well depending on the sizes of the cheeses you most often make.  I ended up with 2 different ones to evaluate to recommend for my class students.  One will press up to 200 lbs; the other goes well over 300 lbs for those that are doing larger diameter cheeses.  (Interestingly, the one that presses higher weights costs less….)

One thing that casual cheesemakers often don't realize is that most of the recipes out there state weights assuming the makers are using a 4.5" diameter mold.  When you use a larger mold, the pressing weight needs to be increased based on the diameter.  You might be surprised at how much weight you are really supposed to be applying for the molds you're using!!!!  (I have an "easy cheat sheet" that shows relative weights by mold diameter if you're interested…)

Anyway – if you're interested, let me know and I'll send you a couple links for the presses I've worked with that I recommend!  The prices are also very good for them!

Mama – Just sent photos of the Dutch Cheese Presses to your email!

Okay – here's the explanation on the "super-duper" chart.  Hope to be able to post the simple chart soon!  (In the meantime, if you want a cc of the simple chart, pm me w/your email address and I'll send it right out!)

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