Natural Rind - Surface Cracks, What Now?

[micah]

Okay, I'm still relatively new to cheese making.  My first cheddar is drying too quickly; it has some cracking.  How do I recover?

Can I wax this?

Should I trim the exterior?

[wharris]

I would g et it into a properly humidified environment soon. 

I have found that cracks will shrink  (heal?) when properly humidified.  I'm pretty sure they are still there, but they seem to shrink and should not grow bigger.

You might want to think about what kind of rind you are looking for. 
If you are ok with it, you might want to vacuum seal the cheese, or coat it with lard and muslin.

If you are aging it,  I am not a big fan of waxing for long periods of time.  I would wax only after aging and just prior to distribution. (if you are selling or giving some away)
good luck.

[justsocat]

The day before yesterday I've got exactly the same problem! I left my cheddar for air drying at the kitchen and went out. Meanwhile my wife started a cake in electric oven and when i return after about 2.5 hours my cheese looked absolutely the same as the one at your picture.
I just covered it tight and moved to fridge. Flipped after 4 hrs and next morning surprisingly all cracks disappeared!

[micah]

I would g et it into a properly humidified environment soon. 

I have found that cracks will shrink  (heal?) when properly humidified.  I'm pretty sure they are still there, but they seem to shrink and should not grow bigger.

I have placed the cheese in a plastic tub that is in a larger tub filled with water.  The larger tub has a lid on it.  It is now at basement temperature (62F).

Should I spray the cheese with water to moisten it?

I was going to wax this cheese and age it for six months after it dried.  I have never used the "lard and muslin" method and I don't have a vacuum packer (though I could borrow one).

[wharris]

I am not sure that I would directly wet the cheese.  You want the cheese to dry,  just slowly and evenly.

If drying in your refrigerator, I would hang a wet kitchen towel or two in the fridge..

[micah]

I have a full sized beer 'fridge (kegerator) that I general keep at 50-55F for dispensing home brew and seltzer.  I can usually make room in there for aging;  I haven't gotten on a regular cheese making schedule as I'm still weighing the cost and time/effort cheese requires.  I need to pick up a hygrometer.  My last cheese, a farmhouse cheddar, dried and aged well in there with a bowl of water.

I am going to try to get the humidity level up and hope that the cracks "shrink" due to swelling.  There are only a couple that are worrisome.  I intend to wax the cheese if the condition improves.  If things don't improve I'm not sure how I should proceed in order to salvage the cheddar.

[wharris]

Get a hygrometer in that fridge and get your humidity up to 75-80% (or so.)

That will help alot.

[micah]

Well I got my humidity up and the cracks did seem to "shrink" though some were still there.  I waxed today and am hoping for the best.  Thanks Wayne.  I'm looking into getting a hygrometer.  Any recommendations?

[wharris]

no real good suggestions on hygrometers..

I ended up with 3-4 relatively cheap ones that i take an average..

[DeejayDebi]

Micah I would not WET the cheese if the crack fills with wate it will molk but you can use a damp rag to wash the cheese if needed.

[Cheese Head]

The root problem is the outside of the cheese is drying faster than the inside, as the outside dries, it is shrinking resulting in the surface stress cracks.

I've found if get the humidity up that will slow down the drying and allow the inside to catch up with the outside and gain better equilibrium and thereby shrink the stress cracks.

[Zinger]

I thought I would share my method for healing a cracked cheese.

I pulled a cheddar from the mold on Wednesday evening, by Thursday evening it was cracking. I have not had much problem with that before so I started checking out the forum for input. In order to add humidity, I took a salad spinnner and put just a little bit of water in the bottom. Then I placed the inner portion of the spinner in place and set the cheese inside. By the next morning the cracks had closed. I am keeping the cheese in the spinner (uncovered) as it continues to dry in order o slow the drying of the outside of the cheese. This seems to be a great solution.

[DeejayDebi]

Great idea Zinger! Now that the heat is on drying is a real issue here. I have been drying in the microwave.

[wharris]

Microwave?  really?
 really?

[DeejayDebi]

It's enclose. I have VERY dry heat. The outside will dry to a crisp in minutes. I put the cheese in there and a bowl of water and crack the door slightly to hold the moisture in. It's basically a big container for a few days.