Day two of Rennet Cheese #2: so far, so curd!

So around 10 this morning I tested our rennet cheese #2, a mixture of heated milk, live yogurt and rennet, which had been sitting overnight. I could really feel the curd; it kind of had the consistency of yogurt pie, the kind you add gelatin to. I was able to slice it, but the curds kind of fell apart. Then I was supposed to mix it by hand for 15 minutes, and by the end of that the curds were really small, like when I make ricotta (well, at least when I make ricotta; some stuff I've read indicates I should get larger curds).In the top-left picture, you can see some curds left in the pot. It kind of looks like thick yogurt right now. I actually ended up twice-draining the whey; in these photos you can see how milky the whey is, but once I re-strained the whey itself it looks like we're getting a good clear liquid. From which I'll make ricotta! So excited!
But first I need to let the cheese drain for a couple more hours before I can put it into the cheese-molds. We'll certainly get plenty of product; the bottom-right photo shows the mock-colander (actually the potato ricer) I had to fashion because my other colander wouldn't hold all the cheese!

Rennet tablet shout-out

So I knew this cheese-making thing would be worth it once I saw the box the rennet tablets come in. It's so adorable you can't stand it. Really classic.

Apparently, Junket rennet tablets have been around forever and has its own little advertising legacy.
There's a very comprehensive recipe booklet included (great example of one-color printing, too!) with regular-guy instructions by one Dr. David Fankhauser. Being a doctor, he realizes that if I'm making my own cheese in 2009 then I probably can't afford a fancy cheese-press and so suggested a tin-can version. Wait till you see what we've decided to use! Best yet, most of the recipes don't require a 6-month resting period. So we're starting with feta, which only takes four days.
My only complaint is that all the recipes require half a tablet. Why not just make the tablets smaller? Or is there a camera in the box so that the Junket people can laugh at my sending half a tablet across the kitchen counter under my knife? I bet it was pretty funny, though.