John-
Thanks so much for your interest in this. I will follow that link and report back.
Thanks again. Very kind of you.
EDIT: I think I'll also look at Xanthan Gum. Their synergism is constantly discussed in articles. Both are natural sources and harmless.
I have been using 50% whole cow cream (pasteurized, non-homogenized) and 50% whole raw milk. It's expected to lose maybe 25% as whey, with or without rennet.
If I add thickener initially when I inoculate, I could simply add more cream to compensate for less loss as whey.
If I add the thickener after ripening and an initial draining, I could (food) process the still-too-wet cheese curd with the thickeners.
I wonder which would produce a smoother, finer curd?
I wonder if food processing insufficiently distributes the thickeners?
Sounds like I've got some 'sperimenting to do