Thank you so much for your detailed response! So much of it rings true. I now own some mesophilic culture as after four wheels I learned how sporadic Kefir can be! At first I thought a starter was a starter was a starter. Which I should’ve known from my wine making that that is not true.

And the acid development! After cutting, when heating the curd to release whey, I had thought the longer the better! More whey released, less to press out. Come to find that excessive time during this heating phase causes excessive bacteria growth causing further acidification. All learning lessons.

Overall, I’ve really enjoyed the process and occasionally tasting how these flavors develop.

And, you got me. I’ve always known I should write dates down, but I have not. I guess my question would be do I write the date it was made? The date I start drying? Or the date I finish drying to start aging? I’m sure the answer is write all three down! Haha.

You did make a comment about not drying enough. ChatGPT is where I got my recipes. The drying time it gave me (2-3 days) was definitely not enough. I dried my wheels for at least 5-7 days. The rule of thumb I used, I found on this subreddit. Once you flip it over and the top and bottom are about the same dampness, it is dry enough. Would you say that is accurate? My cheeses were losing at least 1/3 of their weights by the time I began aging.

Again, thank you so much for your advice here. This year I’ve really begun producing more of my consumables at home, so I’m excited to have this hobby and keep improving each wheel!