I'm making a chevre-style pasteurized sheep milk cheese - 1/2 tsp Meso Aroma B per gallon of milk, temp is 74F. I let the pH drop to 6.2-6.1 before adding the rennet, which is taking around 8 hours. It takes about another 6 hours for the rennet to set up and the pH to drop to 4.6-4.5, which is when I drain it in molds for 12-14 hours, flipping and lightly salting a few times. The cheese is turning out about perfect, exactly what I want. My question is, is there a way to speed that initial acid production - the drop to 6.2 or so - without changing the end result of the cheese? Would adding more culture speed things up? 76F instead of 74?
I live 1.5 hours from the plant I'm making my cheese in right now and it's a travel issue for me - having to make 3 trips up there vs 2. I like the result I'm getting by letting the acid develop for awhile before adding the rennet, but I might have to change up my recipe and add the rennet at the same time as the culture.