I was surprised to find I just finished my 35th cheese ( a cheddar ). Now, I started this endeavor almost 2 years ago and this got me to thinking about the learning curve----from beginner to, well let's just say, a lot better.
Out of my first ten cheeses-----3 were absolute failures-----3 were edible, but not very good---and yes, I am rather fussy----4 were better, but not great. I thought of using a baseball reference here, but batting .400 would be great in ball, but not so good in cheese making.
The next ten were a mix of good to getting better.
Things improved greatly in my next ten-----no failures----but three of them were not quite up to my standards-----four were excellent. I think they got better when I finally got through my head that stirring gently, meant REALLY GENTLE-----not the manly kind of gentle I used in construction for all those years.
The last 5 makes went very well and most are still in the cave and I believe they will all be excellent-----because of that learning curve.
So if any of you newbies get a little frustrated, don't give up to quickly-----the curve is probably different for everyone, but it's definitely there.
35 more cheese makes and I might be able to say, " I am really getting good "
Qdog