First attempt cheddar not constituting

[Roxdorman]

Please help...I am trying to make cheddar with my goats milk.  I thought everything was going well but after pressing I realized something went wrong.  The curds are all compressed together in a disc but you can see each curd.  It did not constitute.  Is it ok to dry, wax and age or is this a loss? Any help is so greatly appreciated.  It takes me a long time to get 3 gallons from my little ND. Thank you in advance

[River Bottom Farm]

You can try sticking the cheese and mold into hot water and then re-press with heavy pressure for a while. Sometimes that can help close it up a bit

[Thewitt]

What pressure did you use on the curd?

[smcaro@gmail.com]

At this point as much as you can....

[Roxdorman]

I started out pressing at 12 lbs, 20, then 50, then 80.  I thought it would not age correctly so I put it in the frig aND did not cUT it right away.  I cut it this weekend and to my surprise it was solid everywhere but cracks all on the outside where you could see the outline of curds.  I thought it would look like that all the way through...could I have waxed it and aged it?  I ended up pie slicing it and vacuum sealing the chunks and freezing most of it.  I was so surprised how good it taste!! Almost like asiago.  So much to learn, I think my biggest problem has been cutting the curds.  Now I see how to cut them below the surface, so hopefully tomorrow at my second attempt, it will work out.  I tried making brie and cutting the curds evidently wrong again made the cheese continue to drain whey after I salted it and sprayed the mold culture.  I put it on another mat and flipped it, then tilted it to keep draining.  Is this a loss with it still draining,  messing up the mold growth? Thanks so much for any help, I am so hooked even though I'm struggling a bit.