Households in the 1800s had a wooden cheese press. Cheese was made by placing a small wooden pail called a firkin filled with sour milk on a shelf at the lower part of the press. A cover was placed on the firkin and on the cover was placed blocks of wood. Theses blocks were lowered and the liquid was pressed our using gravity. As the liquid came out the blocks would lower and additional blocks were placed on top. Eventually most of the liquid was drained off and solid pieces would remain in the firkin. The liquid was called whey and the solid chunks were called curds. The curds were stored as cheese. The whey was fed to the pigs.

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