Thanks for that, Mike.... I have done enough brining I am more comfortable with that than dry salting the exterior after pressing.... I would love to try salting the curds before pressing, but I know that if I do that too early the pH would not be down to what you want a Grana cheese to end up at.... What about allowing the curds to sit, either in a small amount of whey, or drained first, at about 86*F to get more acidic before pressing?.... I have a "warming cabinet" made from a bar fridge with an aquarium heater in the crisper tray with 10 L of water in it.... It will hold that temperature indefinitely, and works great for pressing Cheddars, or keeping the curds warm during the cheddaring process....
My concern is that I don't want to turn my Grana into a Cheddar....
.... I know I'll be using a Thermophilic culture (ST + LH), what do you think would be the outcome?.... I don't really care if it ends up like a Parmesan, a Romano or an Asiago, I just want a Grana style cheese that I can age at least a year and will grate well.... If you think this will work, about how long should I keep the acidification going before salting and pressing?.... I managed to get a Cantal to knit.... cooked at 89*F and then acidified overnight at 72*F, then milled, salted and pressed to eventually 7 psi.... I successfully press Cheddars at 86*F, after cheddaring at 86*F, and it only takes 3.5 psi.... Unfortunately I don't have a pH meter....
So, if I make basically a Parm, small curds and cook it at ~130*F, then drain or partially drain and let it sit at 86*F for "X" hours to acidify, then salt and press, what would I get?.... I know it would be a LOT harder to press than a Parm usually is, but assuming I can get it to knit OK, what do you think the result would be like?....
Anyone else ever done something similar?.... Success?.... Failure?....
Bob