Pressed Cheese Air Drying - Warm Temperatures

[yeri]

Guys, i still in a preparation to make chedar cheese, but i'm still thinking where i would age the cheese if the cheese is already pressed, i put a thermometer at my fridge but the warmest place, but it can only give me 15.8 Degree Celsius, if i'm not wrong chedar need to be aged at 21 degree celsius, is  it okay to aged chedar at around 15 degree celsius?

[Sailor Con Queso]

Yeri,

21C or 69.8F is way too warm for aging. My cave is 12C or 54F. I use a Ranco digital controller to keep the temperature at the correct level.

[yeri]

Sailor : i take this from the Recipe Section at the Chedar Recipe :

"Remove the cheese from the press. Place the cheese on a cheese board and dry at room temperature for 3-5 days, until the cheese is dry to the touch.
Wax the cheese and age it in your refrigerator for 3-24 months. The longer the cheese is aged the sharper the flavor it will develop. Be sure to flip the cheese every few days."

when i have dry the the cheese for 3 - 5 day i need around 21 Degree Celsius right? to age the cheese(3-24Month) 12Deg Celsius is this a must? my fridge can go to 11.5Celsius if i'm not wrong.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Yeri,

You should dry the cheese for just a few days at room temperature - yes, somewhere around 18-21F. I would then move the cheese to your "cave" or refrigerator at a temperature of between 10-12C without waxing. Let it age naturally for at least a couple of weeks so the cheese can give off excess moisture and gases. Turn the cheese once a day. If molds start to appear, wipe them off with a little vinegar/brine solution.

If the temperature is too low, aging will b e very slow. If the temperature is too high, the cheese may become bitter.

[yeri]

thanks for the steps, but is there is wax needed till the end of the process? because at my country it is also hard to find a food grade wax, so i would happy if the process involve no wax at all.

[Sailor Con Queso]

There have been lots of discussions here about aging methods, so you should search the forum. For example, you can age with a natural rind rubbed with olive oil and then you do not have to wax. However, for very small cheeses you will lose a lot because of the hard rind that will develop.

[INGrandad]

However, for very small cheeses you will lose a lot because of the hard rind that will develop.

On the other hand, grating that rind up....

[yeri]

perhaps i can handle the aging temperature, what is very hard here in my country is to have room temperature aroung 21Degree Celsius, at my country day and night the temperature will go around  26-30 Degree Celsius, is this temperature still okay to dry the cheese before entering the aging temperature?

thanks for the info guys, where i can find the thread for the aging? i try to find it but it's to many thread make it harder to find...

[Sailor Con Queso]

Yeri - What country are you in? 26-30 is pretty warm. I wouldn't keep it out for more than one day before moving it to the refrigerator.

[yeri]

i live at indonesia, here sometime we get 30degree celsius, so is it okay to dry the cheese at temp 26 - 30Degree? perhaps it just the matter of drying time, because it's warmer then the drying time should be shorter am i correct?