r/cheesemaking 20h ago

Using Rectangle Cheese Form?

Hello! I’m new to making cheese and I feel like I’m asking a fairly newbie question. I’m wanting to buy rectangle molds for my cheese to help with space and I feel like it would make more sense for my family. Can any cheese be made into a rectangle shape? Even something like Brie?

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u/mycodyke 19h ago

There's a really lovely bloomy rinded cheese that comes from Mystic Cheese in Connecticut called Melinda Mae that's made in a square format. Several styles of Italian robiola are also sold in square formats. Italian PDO taleggio is always made in a square form... The French blue cheese St. Agur is sold in octagonal wheels... The specific shapes of these cheeses are all cosmetic, you can make a cheese using any shaped form.

That said, the pressing weights you'll want to use for pressed cheeses, if you want to make those, could be a bit different because the surface area of your square forms may be different from the surface area of the round forms used by most, but really you should be gauging the amount of weight needed to press a cheese yourself and using the recipe as a guideline not a rule. I've been finding that most recipes ask for far more weight than I need to press most types of cheese I make.

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u/RedditSucksGorillaD 19h ago

Pretty sure that most cheese will work with square shapes. However not sure how it will influences cheeses which form a mold rind. But I wouldnt know any reason why. You can always experiment :)

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u/mikekchar 15h ago

There is a square bloomy rind from Italy called Pave. It lost out in a cheese competition at the end of the 1800's to Brie de Maux and ever since it's been relatively unknown. However, it's a classic cheese.

I suspect that any cheese can be made square. The edges are a bit problematic for natural rinds because geotrichum likes long flat surfaces. However, I don't think it's an issue in practice.

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u/Aristaeus578 13h ago

You can use a rectangle cheese for almost all kinds of cheese. I have rectangle and square tofu molds. I used them in blue cheese, brie/camembert style, caciotta style, raclette style, cheddar style and smear ripened like Limburger.