Thank you Spoons! I will try it. Can you expand on what you mean by cheddaring it? I have done the stack and flip em deal, but you said 30 min. How does this change the make? Sorry, now you have me more curious.
Once you drained your curd mass it sill keep on acidifying very slowly at room temperature. At this point, you need to wait until you reach the stretchable sweet spot of about 5.3-5.2PH. There are many ways to get to 5.2. Some quicker than others. The key here is temperature of the curd, the warmer the curd is, the quicker it acidifies.
My 30 minute "cheddaring method" is as follows:
when you drain the curd, drain it in a colander in the pot at about 85F-90F to keep the curds warm. Once drained about 10-15 minutes later, wipe down the pot from traces of whey and put the curd mass on the bottom of the pot. Put the pot at an angle so the curd mass never sits in a pool of whey. Flip the mass after 10 minutes. Cut the mass in 2 and flip and stack for another 10 minutes (always at 85-90F), and so on... You'll reach the 5.2PH sweet spot in no time at all! It happens real quick though, so be careful and have your 170F water ready!
