Here's how it turned out: I never did get the stretch on the provolone. The evening got late and I was not certain if the ph was going to do it's thing. I was encouraged because the mass of matted curds in the pot had much better flavor than any other cheese at this point. So, after heating the curds to 180 f internal temperature, I pressed them very lightly and just for a half an hour. The really were congealed and just needed shape. Then I put it in brine until morning (about 5 or 6 hours).
The resulting cheese is sort of dry and pretty salty, but it has decent flavor and will work on salads or as a feta replacement. The flavor of the curds was actually better than the final cheese.
No great discoveries here but I managed not to waste 4 gallons of milk!
