I’ve recently found a source of raw milk (Jersey cow) and have been making cheddars.  As per your advice in a previous post I’ve cut back on the rennet and culture so I’m now using 2 gallons of raw milk, 1/8 t. MA culture, and 1/4 t. rennet.  I’m having no trouble getting a nice curd to cut, but after I cook the curds and stir them out the curd is too dry.  Have I cut back too much on something?  Any other suggestions?  Any help is greatly appreciated.

Don’t understand what you mean by “too dry.”  Cheddar curd is relatively dry, and tends to be somewhat tough, almost like chicken meat.  I stir mine with my hands, and its amazing how much it firms up during the cooking process.  As long as you are getting good wheel formation in your press, its likely not too dry at all.  Have any of your attempts gone full term yet?  What are your results?  Also, as Dave can attest, you need a LOT of weight to press a cheddar properly.  How may pounds are you using, and what is the diameter of your mold?

same Rich questions here

By “too dry” I mean that the curd did not clump together before I pressed it.  After pressing for 15 minutes with 10 pounds, pieces of the wheel came off when I redressed it.  After pressing with 40 pounds for 12 hours the wheel was hard to get back in the mold because it was so hard.  I’m pressing for another 24 hours at 50 pounds now.  Is this normal?

It sounds slightly out of the ordinary, but not overly so.  10 lbs for 15 min. is not much pressure or time, and I could see where it would not be knit together very well at that point.  And yes, it would likely be difficult to get back into the mold after a 40 lb press.  I wouldn’t worry too much about it.  The question I have is how does the wheel look?  Has the curd knit together into a smooth surface?  I am guessing that you had no trouble with it falling apart after your 40 lb press?  It sounds to me like you’re pretty much on target.

sounds to me like your letting the curd cool too much before pressing

sounds like the curds got cold,
but with long press it should be fine

is the outer surface is smooth now?

I just finished pressing the cheese and the curds have not knit together; i.e.the surface is not smooth. I think the curds were too dry at the end of cooking.  They did not stick together very well.  So I think that’s the first problem.  Also there was maybe too much time between cheddaring and pressing.  My recipe said to bring the cheddaring pieces into 1/2” pieces by hand.  That took a while.  It would be quicker to cut them with a knife.  Is that OK?  Any other suggestions?

When you break your curd into pieces for salting and pressing, let them sit in a pot which is in warm water.  I put mine in the sink and work in the same pot, picking up slabs and breaking them into chunks.  This way, the curd temp is maintained no matter how long it takes to get it all done.

Another thing, what size mold are you using?  As we’ve been discussing lately, the recipes available are usually for a 4” mold.  If you’re using a larger one, you’ll need to adjust your pressing weight up to maintain the same psi as the recipe calls for in the 4”.

THis can also be do to over cheddaring.  I do not have my notes handy at that the moment. but remember a few months ago and it seemed that the PH had gotten way out of hand (well below the target of ~5.3 (got this cheddar PH target from the American farmstead cheesemaking book)).  When we presed we had a really hard time to getting the curds (chunks)  to knit properly.  We struggled to rewrap and keep the weel in one piece.  Ended up with a strange and sort of lupy wheel after the final press and although it held together enough to dry and then wax (this is still sitting in the cave), subsequent attempts with strict monioring of the PH of the curds during cheddaring have eliminated the problem, and we now have nice looking well knitted wheeels.

has anyone tried rewarming curd when it doesnt knit properly when pressed. breaking the curd up into bits and say warming it in the microwave or running warmwater through it?

put your wheel now in hot water 50C for 2 minutes then press it again in mold, and i hope it will knead together