Rustic soft #4 is going to disappoint

#4 may not get posted at all, but if any come out well I'll post pics later--but I'm pretty sure this is going to be a failure. I did a couple things wrong:

1. I forgot to add CaCl. Considering this was the same recipe as #1 except the CaCl, and the curd was immensely more difficult to work with (even cooked ten degrees higher), I think omitting the CaCl was a bad mistake.
2. The loaf was not completely wrapped in cheese cloth during pressing. While this doesn't seem to be a big deal with harder cheeses, I lost at least 10% of the curd during the pressing.
3. Without a fresh cheese mold the loaf split down the center like #1, but worse. Jebus soft cheese is a pain to work with.

I tasted a bit of the loaf already and it is quite sour. Too much lactose has been turning into lactic acid, and it's starting to taste like jet fuel. I'm not going to completely give up hope, but I doubt this loaf will be stellar.

Start date: 2/28/2009
Wax date: 3/3/2009
Taste date: TBD

Recipe

• 1 gallon whole milk, pasteurized and homogenized
• 2 cups 1% cultured buttermilk
• 1 tab rennet
• Mortons kosher salt
• Forgot to add CaCl
  

Pressed at 6lbs for 13 hours. Tried to press at 40lbs, but the curd squeezed through the holes in the mold. It has been aging in a small metal bowl/form. Initially I hoped it would help prevent cracks, but that turned out to be a pipe dream.

Brined the loaf for 15 minutes, however the brine almost caused the entire loaf to disintegrate.