Hi Wayne, Just a thought...something I've used a lot the last few years is to go by where they're doing some construction that involves living-spaces below ground level...they often use big (like up to 4'X4'X8+') hunks of styrofoam (yes, the white stuff). I just asked if I could have a piece they were throwing away that was large enough for me to dig out a "cave" in it the size of my vat. It wasn't the most fun digging it out, but wasn't overly difficult either, as it doesn't need to be extremely accurate or tight-fitting. Anyway, the final result was that I could set my vat down into the styrofoam and only really lost heat during the time it takes me to turn the slabs. Generally keeps the curd-mass within a few degrees of when it started. Just a thought.
OMC(bill)