Yes, it's about the same. Whey drain for parm should be 0.2-0.22. But that's not a pH pf 5.8. Maybe a typo on his site? .2 is a pH of something like 6.3. I've never seen 0.2 be 5.8.
This is confusing, I need to drain,cut ,allow for additional whey to expell and mold when it reaches TA .30%?
Or maybe drain,cut,put into cheese cloth to drip,monitor the remaining whey which is continuing acidifying and start pressing when it reachs .30%?
It's standard stuff. The timing is because of the commercial volumes. When you pack the curd under whey and then cut it to fill the molds, by the time you take all the curd pack and have it be in the molds, that takes about half an hour. And in that time, acidity is increasing. So you start with the whey drain and cut at .2 and by the time you're done, you're at .3. And then when you're done, you start stacking the molds and then you start pressing. Nothing really special about this, except the timing is written down based on a commercial process and volumes.
You can press right away making one cheese. Make sure you pack the curd/prepress under whey to bind it all together, then drain around .2-.22 (.25 is also not bad, but no more). And then take the curd mass and press it. Press in a warm room, you need the acidity to keep building.
Look at it another way. The critical things are the drain pH (meaning pH at which the curds fuse) and the room temp. The drain pH is for the paste, the texture, and calcium level. But with packing under whey, that already partially happens, so if you press at .2 or .3 it does not make a huge difference. The huge difference, though, is in the temp (and drain pH as already said). Packed under whey or left to rest undisturbed, the curd is warmer, fused better, and develops acidity faster. When you start pressing, the follower is cold, the room temp is less than the whey, etc. So it loses heat quickly, and acidification can slow down. That's what the timing is all about, to get the right level of calcium to coincide with the acidity. Process and time markers reflect that. Adjust to your situation based on the dynamics, because you can't follow that recipe as is making only one wheel.
Is there any difference in making parm other then using sheeps milk in pecorino romano?
Rennet is lamb paste, and the cultures are different. They're very similar, though. Oh and size of wheel.