I made this last night and pulled it out of the press this morning.
4 gal P/H whole milk
MA11
1/4 tab veg rennet
68 g salt
I used scasnerkay's recipe from here
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,10234.msg76176.html#msg76176I also looked at JeffHamm's recipe since they both had pH targets I could use with my new pH meter. Scasnerkay's looked like it would end up a little moister, so I went with it.
4:50 Start of heat T 60, pH 6.74
5:02 Sprinkle culture T 86
6:35 Add rennet pH 6.52
6:50 floc=15 x 3.5 = 53 minutes
7:43 cut curd to 3/8" pH 6.24
7:58 begin heating
8:02 temp reached (a little too fast) T 93 (overshot 91 degree target)
8:42 done cooking/stirring pH 5.88; Drained in cheese cloth and pressed it lightly with hand
8:54 cut to 1" thick slices and stacked
9:08 flipped
9:19 This is where I realized that instead of warming the pot for just a minute on the burner, I had left it on for 11 minutes. Grrr! The cheese probably got to 120 degrees on the bottom. Oh well, live and learn. I cooled it in water and then milled it.
9:30 Put in 8" diameter mold and pressed at 20 lbs
10:00 Pressed at 50 lbs
10:40 Pressed at 180 lbs
11:45 Pressed at 360 lbs
08:30 Removed from press, pH of whey 5.03
Final pH target is 5.5, I believe. I'm not sure if a final pH of 5.03 is bad or what I could have done differently so that it would be closer to the target...?
Knit is not too great or too horrible. My final pressing PSI was ~7 PSI. I could put more weight on my press next time or try to keep it warmer. I'm not sure if I could ramp up the pressing weight faster...? Luckily, this only has to survive 3 weeks or so of aging so not too worried about surface cracks and I can always vac bag it.