iratherlfy - Thanks for the explanation and I guess it is time to provide you (and others) with the whole detailed story, eh? Anyway, I will first post the recipe paragraph by paragraph, and then my notes that relate to that paragraph. I will try to give them different fonts to make it easier to understand which is which. I also took a couple of photos with my cell phone which I will try to upload here and see what happens:
Recipe:
1. In a nonreactive stock pot, heat the milk over low heat to 70 degress F, this should take about 12 minutes. Turn off the heat
23 November, 2011; 0920; Kitchen temp at 71 degrees. Put one gallon of Manchester Farms milk in pot. The milk has an expiration date of 3 December 2011. Milk temp is at 42 degrees and I set the fire to low.
0934 Milk has reached 55 degrees F
0945 Milk has reached 70 degrees F
2. Sprinkle the starter over the milk and let it rehydrate for 5 minutes. Mix well using a whisk in an up-and-down motion for 1 minute. Cover and maintain 70 degrees, letting the milk ripen for 45 minutes.
Sprinkled one quarter teaspoon of MM100 on top of the milk with the fire off
0952 mixed milk with an up and down motion for one minute, then covered the pot and left it for 45 minutes.
Add the Calcium Chloride and gently whisk for 1 minute. Slowly raise the temperature to 86 degrees F over 7 to 8 minutes, then add the Rennet and gently whisk in for 1 minute. Cover and let sit, maintaining 87 degrees F for 30 to 45 minutes, or until the curds give a clean break.
1006 Diluted one quarter teaspoon Calcium Chloride in one eigthth cup of distilled water. Milk is at 74 degrees.
1039 Add the Calcium Chloride to the milk and stirred for one minute. Turned of fire at simmer. Mixed one quarter teaspoon of liquid vegetable Rennet (Malaka brand) into 1/8 cup of water
1052 Milk reached 86 degrees. Added Rennet and stirred for one minute. Then covered and let sit with fire off for 45 minutes.
1139 Clean break achieved and surface temp is at 86 degrees.
3. Still maintaining 86 degrees, cut the curds into 1/2 inch pieces and let sit for 5 minutes.
I cut the curds into roughly 1/2 cubes and let it sit for 5 minutes.
Gently stir the curds for 10 minutes, then let sit for 5 minutes.
Stirred the cut curds for 10 minutes (temp remained at 86 degrees) and noticed they were shrinking. I also cut any of the larger pieces that I found and kept stirring. Then, I let the curds rest for five minutes. During this time, the curds started sinking below the level of the whey.
Ladle out about one-third of the whey and add 3 cups of 130 degree water. When the temperature of the curds and whey reaches 92 to 94 degrees, add another 3 cups of 130 degree water.
1202 Ladled out 3 cupos of whey and replaced with water which started out at 172 degrees but cooled to 130 before mixing in to whey. After this, the whey/curd mix is at 94 degrees. Prepared another 3 cups of hot water
Gently stir for 5 minutes, then add another 2 cups of 130 degree water. Add the salt and stir to dissolve. Check the temperature and add 130 degree water as needed to bring the curds and whey to about 97 degrees.
Stirred the curds for 5 minutes
1212 Added 2 teaspoons of cheese salt and stirred to dissolve. Added 3 more cupos of hote water to bring the mix up to a temp of 97 degrees.
Continue stirring until the curds feel stringy in your hand when squeezed, about 20 minutes.
1215 Started stirring for 20 minutes. At the end of this, the individual curds have shrunk quite a bit and they feel kind of spongy.
Ladle off enough whey to expose the curds. Gently stir in the dill
1235 Ladled off 5 cups of whey. Decided on this first attempt not to add dill
4. Line an 8-inch Tomme mold (with follower) with damp butter muslin and place it on a draining rack. Gently ladle the curds into the mold and press them in with your hands. Pull the cloth tight and smooth, removing any wrinkles. Fold the cloth tails over the curds, set the follower on top, and press at 8 pounds for 30 minutes.
Ladled the curds into a tomme mold lined with butter musling (yes, damp). Pressed the curd and pulled the muslin tight. Folded the remaining muslin over the top (too much muslin - should cut it before next use) and put the follower on top. Then placed a gallon jug filled with water on top.
5. Remove the cheese from the mold, peel away the cloth, flip the cheese and redress with the same cloth. Press again at 8 pounds, redressing every 30 minutes for up to 3 hours, or until the whey stops draining.
1310 Flipped the cheese and redressed
1340 Flipped
1410 No more whey is draining so move on to next step
6. Leave the cheese in the mold without pressure for about three more hours before putting in the fridge for 12 hours or overnight. Remove the cheese from the mold. It is now ready to eat, or it can be aged fro more intense flavor
1410 flipped the cheese over and stored in the fridge for overnight
7. Make 2 quarts of saturated brine in a noncorrosive container with a lid and chill it to 50 to 55 degrees. Submerge the cheese in the brine and soak at 50 to 55 degrees for 8 hours or overnight
24 November Morning - This is when i tasted the cheese and found it sour.
Prepared brine and moved cheese from mold to to brine and stored it in the fridge for 12 hours.
evening. Took cheese out of brine, patted it dry and placed on draining dish at room temp for overnight
8. Remove the cheese from the brine and pat dry. Air-dry at room temperature on a rack for 12 hours, then age at 55 degrees and 85 percent humidity on a cheese mat set in a ripening box, flipping daily. Age for 1 month, or longer if desired, removing any unwanted mold with cheesecloth dampened in a vinegar-salt solution
25 November - flipped the cheese which is developing a rind. Brushed all over it with a small amount of Canola oil and stored in a wine fridge (I am concerned about the wine fridge not being humid enough, but you can read about that above)
Now for the two pics which I just took. Each picture if of one side of the cheese since I flipped it between the two cheeses. The cell phone and the kitchen lights show things in a yellowish light on my screen. The rind is kind of light yellow, but it's much more pronounced in the photos than reality.
i think you can see the cracks in both side. They are deep fissures that go most of the way through the think disk of cheese.