Dunlop Cheese making in Beith
22 August
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A cheesepress being used as a planter in Gateside
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Abandoned cheesepress near Grangehill
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Cheesepress at Barbara Gilmours old farm
Dunlop Cheese is a hard Cheddar-like cheese introduced to Ayrshire by Barbara Gilmour in around 1688. Made from whole milk, it became very popular and was made on many Ayrshire farms. Evidence for this past activity is sometimes found in the form of large abandoned cheesepress stones.
Moulding was the process of containing and pressing salted curd into a certain shape in which it was matured before finally being sold. In Scotland such containers were known as 'chissets', made of oak wood and banded with iron for strength.
The first stage was to line this mould with a cheesecloth called 'scrim' that would help to drain the first flow of the whey. The 'chisset' was filled with the salted curd and the ends of the 'scrim' were folded over neatly then a smaller diameter 'follower' was placed on top.
The next step was to squeeze the curd into a firm mass. To do this pressure was applied progressively and thereby the whey was evenly forced out and not locked into the curd. Large cheeesepress stones were used, set up so as to allow the weight of the large stone to be steadily applied, improving the drainage and firming up of the curd from which the mature cheese was eventually obtained.
Dunlop Cheese is only made at Clerkland Farm near Stewarton these days and hundreds of cheesepresses have therefore become redundant. Many were simply broken up, others dumped and some re-used in some way, such as being hollowed out as a trough. The giveaway is the shape, a groove down two opposing sides and a firm attachment point on the top.
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