Farmhouse Cheddar pt 1

Of course it's 1:30 am, I had not much else to do/the milk only has a certain shelf life. Directions are as follows

heat 2 gallons of free range grass fed raw organic milk to 145 degrees for 30 min then cool to 90 degrees

add 1 packet Mesophilic direct set culture and leave at 90 degrees for 45 min.

add 1/2 tablet dissolved in 1/4 cup of cool water by pouring it into the milk through a perforated skimming ladle and stir it down to the bottom. then "topstir" with the flat underside of the ladle.

cover the container and leave undisturbed for 45 min.

cut the curd into 1/2"blocks

put the pot into a sink of hot water and bring the temperature up slowly not more than 2 degrees every 5 mins. Process takes 30 min and looks like the above picture