Pressing
Hard and semi-hard cheeses are pressed in a cheese press. You can rig up a home-made press or purchase a press. If you plan to make lots of hard cheeses, I recommend the purchase of a press. The pressing helps to expel more whey, to shape the cheese and to create proper consistency and texture.
During pressing, the curds are dressed in cheesecloth, pressed for some period of time at a specific pressure, then removed redressed, turned and repressed. Each recipe calls for a specific sequence of pressures and times.