Cheddar question

[Ptucker]

Made a traditional cheddar last Friday, I got distracted and increased the temperature from 88 to 102  to quick during the cook phase. It reached 102 in 30 minutes rather than the 45 I was shooting for. Everything else during the make went well. PH was 5.3 when pressed and It knitted okay but two days later it is still very moist. I salted the outside and it expelled some additional whey, maybe a ¼ cup.

My question is do you think it has retained to much whey and will it be sour after aging? Should I be trying anything else?

[linuxboy]

Your cook schedule likely created a casein shell around the curds, leading to excess moisture retention. Nothing you can do now. Age it out, see how it turns out. Keep temp on the low side at 40-45F if you want to try and slow down flavor formation to make up for defects.

[Ptucker]

I would think it will take a several days to dry and hope it does not crack up to bad. I guess I will age it in the regular refrigerator for a while, maybe it can be used for cooking. Guess time will tell