Cheddar - Poor Pressing Curd Knit

[cytome]

I made my first cheddar, everything went well and looked good but after taking it out to air dry my curds didn't knit evenly, I think this is due to letting them get too cool, they sat exposed in the colander for a few minutes while i was distracted, when I went to take them out to start the cheddaring process I noticed the bottom was a nice solid mass, but the top part, which had been exposed to cooler air was still 'popcorn' looking. As I was salting later I had nice good chunks for the most part but some still weren't fusing and remained in tiny pieces. So after being in the press I have a mostly solid mass but some parts aren't fused well. Is my too cool theory correct? I can post a pic.

[linuxboy]

Yes, any gradients are the enemy at all points in the process. Temp gradients are especially bad, cause fluctuation through curd mass.

[cytome]

Well I wiped it down with saltwater and it is now air drying, I'm going to wax it and my hope is that the wax seal will keep bacteria from setting up in the crevices. I am completely new to this and it's my first attempt at any kind of cheese, I feel like I did fairly well for a cheese noob lol, just hoping this wont ruin all the effort.

[cytome]

this is a pic of my first cheese, not perfect but I'm still proud

[Boofer]

Looks pretty good for your FIRST. 

Some questions:

• What pressure did you press at and for how long? Cheddar needs fairly high psi.
• Did you keep the curds warm while pressing?
• Did you add annatto to this make? The cheese seems really orange.
• Did you start pressing lightly at first, then flip-redress, and press a little heavier?
• Why did you post the same picture twice?
• Why not edit your profile and let us know where you live?

-Boofer-