Blue cheese cloth or butter muslin – which do I choose?

If a cheese is to be pressed, the moulds or forms must be lined with cloth first. This is to hold the curd in the mould as weight is applied, otherwise it will squish through the drainage holes making spaghetti, which is not a good look! Cheese cloth is also useful for covering moulds full of draining and maturing curds to keep out flies, dust, and other unwanted contaminants. Cheese cloth is also very permeable so works well as a liner for a colander when making cheeses like feta where curds are drained before they are put into a mould. It should be noted that cloths must be sterilised prior to use. Which type of cloth you choose depends on what you want to use it for, and I have outlined the advantages and disadvantages of the two types of cloth that we stock below: Butter muslin is a fine open-weave natural fibre cotton and is often doubled over into two layers. Advantages: ● It drapes easily so works very well as a ‘cover.’ ● It can be used to line moulds and forms when little or no pressure is to be applied. ● Can be conveniently sterilised in boiling water. Disadvantages: ● Under high pressure the curds can stick to the cloth, and when it’s removed the protective ‘skin’ formed on your curd during pressing can be damaged, creating a weak spot for unwanted mould contamination during the maturing stage of your cheese. Picking stuck curds out of cotton muslin so you can re-use it is also quite soul destroying! ● A little more time and effort is needed to keep the cloth clean, it requires more rinsing and needs to be hand washed. Blue professional cheese cloths are a free draining man-made fabric. Advantages: ● Curds do not stick to the blue cloth, so this is the perfect choice for lining the moulds and forms of heavily pressed cheese. ● It can be cleaned very easily with a quick rinse under the tap to remove solids and then in a washing machine or dishwasher on a 60°C cycle. ● These cloths are often referred to as ‘disposable’, but I have used the same two cloths for 2 seasons of rigorous cheese making and they are still in use. Disadvantages: ● It can also be used as a ‘cover’ to keep out contamination, but it does not drape as freely which is a marginal disadvantages ● It cannot be sterilised in boiling water. You must use a chemical steriliser. ● Some people simply do not like the ‘feel’ of the cloth as it does not drape into a mould/form as easily, but in my opinion, it is well worth the extra effort.