Okay, here's the thyme Caerphilly, and make notes.
Make on Mar 11
Used I gallon Jersey homogenized milk, local
Added ½ mL calcium chloride in 30 mL distilled water
Used 1 oz. homemade meso culture; let develop 90 minutes per Dixon
Added ¼ Marschall M-50 rennet tablet dissolved in 60 mL distilled water
Floc achieved at: 10 minutes
Used a floc multiplier of 4, per Dixon, or 40 minutes.
Raised temp to 93ºF over 20 mins, stirring. (Temp had dropped to 86.5º)
Dixon says to stir the curds somewhat vigorously after the first 20 mins, and keep it up (for maybe another 30-50 minutes) until the curds are firm and springy in the hand. Took a total of 50 minutes to get firm curds.
Settle the curds under the whey for 20 min.
Next: drain whey down to curd level and trench for 5 mins. Don’t know if I can do this successfully in a shallow round pot with just 1 gallon on a cast iron burner that is hard to control for heat. (Heat already went to 96º during this last process.) My cast iron raised hobs retain heat long after being turned off.
Drain 5 minutes in cheesecloth.
Mill the curds into 1” cubes, mix in salt at the rate of 1 pound per 100 pounds of curd. I figure I have about one pound of curd, so 4.53g salt. Then mix in the thyme. I’ll start with one teaspoon and see how it looks. Well, the thyme looks okay. I’m afraid to add more lest it totally overpower. I’ll find out in 3-4 weeks when I taste it!
First pressing, 7:45 pm @ 10 lbs, 20 minutes. Room temp is around 70ºF.
Remove from press, redress inverted, press another 20 mins @ 10 lbs.
Final redress and press: Remove from press, redress inverted, press overnight @ 15-20 pounds.
This morning: Removed from press, immersed in 18% whey brine @55ºF for 3 hours (2.5 hours per pound of cheese, weight was 1.25 pounds), will turn once or twice. Added a sprinkle of salt to top of wheel floating in brine.