I don't know if it's okay to respond to an old post- so let me know if I should do it differently-
John, I just made my first Queso Fresco, using same recipe (FiasCo Farms)- I got probably similar outcomes to yours (except your curds look so much nicer...)- seems tasty but a little too salty.
Question: when draining curds, does the recipe just mean to drain the whey to the level of the curds before letting sit at 100F for 10 min? I didn't understand that from the recipe- and drained all the whey off in a colander, then held the dry curds at about 96F for 10 min, before pressing. Also- you mention bailing whey- do you just siphon whey off (instead of pouring all curds and whey thru a lined colander, which seems kind of tough on the curds...)? Learning the techniques- thanks for any insights, sorry to revive an old post...