"What kind of milk are you using?" ==> 3 Quarts of Whole Milk from the supermarket
She calls for 1/4 teaspoon of Rennet, which is also the amount specified on the bottle for 1 gallon. I cut back a bit since I am using only 3 quarts.
I used the Floc method since - as you noted - she did not give a time. The curds were totally set at 13 minutes, and I cut them right after that.
I drained and flipped every hour until it stopped draining. When I put it in the cave, it did NOT look like that picture!!!
It looked very good actually. That picture was taken two days later.
I think I am seeing the pattern here - which is what I am also suspecting - that the quantity of salt is killing this cheese. She also has me adding the salt into the curds before molding. So, between the huge quantity of salt and it being in the curds, I suspect that's the problem.
Next time I will do the same, except not add the salt to the curds, but spread it on the top, bottom, and sides after it's formed better.
Thanks for all the advice folks. I will report back here after my next attempt.