Well Alp you hit the nail right on the head. I took the cheese out and back to room temperature this morning for fear of it splitting open. What you see is the result of 36 hours at 80°. It certainly got the little fellows moving. Hopefully they will continue their work at the lower temperature but a little slower. Any bets on whether I have holes in my Emmental? LOL Alp I can't thank you enough for your help on this one buddy. I think that, between us, we may have cracked the secret to small batch Emmentals. After two weeks in the cave allow to sit at 75-80° for two-four weeks. That period may change based on further observation. BTW Your idea of mixing the cultures with the milk while cold seems to have worked out a treat as well.
Stinky, there is NO neon yellow mold growth. If you look at the sides you'll see slightly darker patches. The camera picks those up as neon yellow when the flash bounces off of them. Crappy camera, no mold. LOL
