This loaf is similar to some of the previous 2% recipes I've put together, with just a couple of differences. The first difference is I did not salt the curds before pressing, I'm adding salt via a ten hour brine. Brining is simply creating a solution of salt and water, then soaking the loaf or cut curds in it. I was very pleasantly surprised by one of the cheeses that I initially thought was going to be a disaster since I forgot to salt it, but turned out spectacular with a long brine time. A good overview on brining can be found at Cheeseforum.org.This loaf was also pressed at slightly higher weight, closer to 60 lbs than 50, and it was wrapped loosely in some very open knit cheese cloth. Also, the curds were washed twice with 90F water to remove some of the lactose during the wheyoff. I want this particular loaf to be more like gouda, nice and mild. The loaf is a tad lopsided, but I'm probably the only person who will notice. All in all, if this batch turns out as good as the previous ones based on this recipe I'll be ecstatic.
After one day it is already dry to the touch, and has a very shiny, plasticy rind developing. It looks and feels very cool.
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