Hi Rizzo,
Yah, it can be hard to wait it out. I find if you can make a lot of cheese, then the trick is to make a short ager (like caerphilly, butterkase, lancashire, etc) followed by one that requires more time. Then anther short ager, etc. This way, you can get a fair few long aging cheeses, and the short aging ones start coming online fast enough that you get to satisfy that "time to open another one" need.
Bloomy rinds, like brie, etc, also are quick to table. And some of the semi-lactic makes are ready even faster!
As for creating the slap for cheddaring, with commerical makes they have the weight of alot of curds to really help press the curds together. I find that it helps to put a follower on top of the curds then press with 2 or 3 litres of water in one of the milk jugs.
Also, the curds from homebrand milk are fairly fragile after cutting, so when starting to stirr, just put your stir stick down a cut and jiggle them for the first 5 minutes or so rather than try to stirr them. That should help firm the curds up a bit so they don't break apart so much during stirring. The siliver top cream line milk gives much stronger curds, but it is also very high fat content, which isn't always what you want.
- Jeff
