Good day Guys and girls,
I live in a very hot country , the average room temp is 100 degrees Fahrenheit .I tried making farmhouse cheddar for the first time but it was an apparent failure and I had to make into another no-name, pressed cheese. I followed the recipe step by step, the rennet took overnight to set in (more than 15 hours).I reached up to "Cut the curd into 1.25cm (1/2 inch) cubes" then the recipe said "Increase the temperature to 38°C (100°F) slowly, no more than 1 degree for every 5 minutes. Stir to ensure that the curds do not mat. This should take about 30 minutes and the curd will shrink a bit".I need help to figure out how to overcome that part of the recipe because the average room temp in Trinidad is 100 degrees F and that was already the temperature of the curds and whey.The curds never shrunk and whey never came to the top.
I waited then I gave up and ended up pouring the cut curds into a cheesecloth with the whey. That was a disaster and it took forever to drain the whey so I just put it in the cheese press to press out all the excess whey at 40 lbs.
I'm wondering what I should have done differently. I'm thinking maybe I should allow it to cool in a water bath while the curds are setting then cut the curds and heat it slowly to 100 degrees F.
I'm hoping tomorrow it will firm up once all the whey has drained out. I know cheesemaking involves trial and error but this really made me feel like the amateur I am. Please help!