First queso fresco, I followed John's recipe
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,1790.0.html It set well though I used a bit less rennet than in the recipe because my pot will hold a little under 2 gallons. (I know, it's probably bad to eyeball measurements!). I forgot my notes with me, but it was: 2 gallons store bought milk, 1/2 tsp CaCl2, 1 packet of meso culture and .2 grams rennet (tablet) and followed the temperatures John outlined in that thread. I let it sit out overnight to dry and then put it in the fridge. Learning along the way, but the process seemed to turn out well this time. I had a nice set, lots of curd and was able to maintain temperature much better than in the past.
I tasted it (just under) 24 hours later because I was curious (and some recipes claim it will be ready by then) and it was very tart and tangy. I hope it will mellow out a bit but am a bit worried because I don't really have a proper press and it seemed pretty wet.
Questions:
1. How long does a queso fresco take to age? I see many threads on it here but haven't seen how long people let it age (quite possible I missed it in reading) Is it one of those things to just keep tasting?
2. Am I destroying my curd by stirring so much? I never know how big the pieces are supposed to be, this picture doesn't show it very well. I seemed to end up with very small curd.
Anyway, because I couldn't wait I tried a slice!
Overall I'm happy with the process and decided that I really do need to buy some proper equipment if I am going to continue making cheese!