Thanks for the praise
. I've timed the speed of the cheddar paddles on some professional makers on Youtube and there's are a little faster. Remember my first incarnation was way too fast, the new version was made with pulley's so I can change to any speed. Wayne, although that seems fast I used it last night on the Farmhouse Cheddar and I think it could be a little faster. You'd be amazed that even that motion didn't move the curds much, it's so slow that it just pushed through the whey. It was pretty much perfect. The curds were light and fluffy, didn't break apart, didn't mat (a few clumps here and there), no big mass that settled to the bottom to over heat and melt, and the whey stayed very clear meaning there was no butterfat being pushed from the curds.
As far as paddle design, I mean that's engineering I really don't want to go into. It would take a lot of figure out an optimal design. You might be right wayne, did you mean just a flat blade? Wayne post a pic of the spatula you're thinking of. But I don't want to start messing with it. I was going for a paddle that pushed liquid upward which would hopefull pull any curds setttling on the bottom upward to rejoin the mix.
The two additions I'm making are a hinge on the unit, it's too bulky to lift up and remove all the time, so it will just swing out of the way. Also I'll be making the shaft and paddle removeable like on a Kitchen Aid mixer, so when the unit swings up the shaft and paddle won't hit and it will be easier to clean.