Air Drying Pressed Cheese - When Is Phase Complete?

[Jessica_H]

I know this may seem like a silly question

But I'm struggling to know if my Gouda is dry enough to wax.  It's been drying for 6 days now...and the the directions say to dry for 3-10 days...which is a huge window.

The whole Gouda is now a uniform yellow color and is "dry" to the touch.  However, when I flip the cheese daily there is a bit of moisture on the bottom where the cheese was sitting.  I've just aquired a mat for the cheese to sit on, so that might help the bottom dry better.

But really I'm wondering...is it not dry until there's NO moisture at all coming from the cheese?  Or are you just looking for a uniform rind?

Part of the real problem is I have time to wax it today   Though I suspect it's still too early.

Thanks again for being out there!  I"ll need less hand holding I think after a few more goes 

[MrsKK]

Time to wax is when it is uniformly dry on all sides, so your's isn't ready yet.  The time frame is a huge window, but because the drying environment can be so different everytime you make cheese.

Just keep on asking until you do feel comfortable!  No worries.

[zenith1]

If you still have visible whey draining from the wheel it's still to early to proceed to the next step(wax/bag). Experience will be your guide in the future, but for now the wheel should feel dry to the touch with no visible moisture under the wheel if you pick it up off of your drying mat.

[judyp]

I have the same question plus one about waxing. 
I made Manchego 4 days ago, Colby 3 days ago and Farmhouse Cheddar 2 days ago.  They all feel dry to the touch.  I have them on a cookie cooling rack with a needle point mat underneath.  I don't see any whey.  The colby looks a little oily and possibly a little dry (small cracks) Are they ready to wax? 
Thanks, Judy

[Sailor Con Queso]

Judy,

I would move them to your cave and try to maintain them as natural rind for a week or two. Biologically, and biochemically, there is a ton of activity going on. If you wax too early the cheese doesn't have a chance to breathe and you stifle all of that activity. If the cheese looks dry there are several things that you can do, such as rubbing with olive oil.

[judyp]

Thanks for your advice.  I don't have a "safe" cheese cave yet.  I'm awaiting the arrival of my wine cooler.  I have a crawl space under my house that is about 55 degrees, but it always smells like mildew to me.  I keep my canned goods down there and sometimes they have mold actually growing on the outside of the jar!  I think it's fairly humid down there.  I also keep my sealed grains and squash there.  I guess what I am saying is I have never stored anything not sealed down there and am not sure what kind of mold or mildew might be lerking in the air.  I have an air purifier running, but will these airborne things hurt my cheese if it's not waxed?  Thanks, Judy

PS...I currently have my cheese sitting in my dehydrator (turned off) and the house temp. is about 66 degrees. 
I really appreciate your advice as making these cheeses took quite a lot of time.   

[Jessica_H]

I currently have my cheese sitting in my dehydrator (turned off) and the house temp. is about 66 degrees. 

I know very little at this point   But my understanding is that's WAY too warm for the cheese.  I think you want things at about 55 degrees.  So if the temp is too warm I would see why it's drying too fast.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Jessica

Many people dry at room temperature for a few days.

[Boofer]

I've been drying a couple Goutaler wheels at 5 weeks and 2 weeks around 66-70F (room temperature). To keep the rinds from cracking they're kept in minicaves (plastic boxes with lids) and periodically rubbed with brine, dried, and coated with EVOO. The humidity in the minicaves hovers around 83%.

-Boofer-

[judyp]

What is a mini cave?  Is there a place I can read about them?  Thanks, Judy

[Boofer]

My "cave" is a small refrigerator to maintain a controlled cheese environment.

My "minicave" is just a plastic box (Rubbermaid, etc.) with a lid to maintain a somewhat controlled environment (temperature & humidity) inside or outside the "cave". The humidity can be regulated marginally by lifting a corner of the lid or lowering it.

You can see that one of my minicaves is a little too large for the cave. Thank goodness I could cant it slightly and still fit it in.

The chip clip helps keep the lid from closing. Still...that particular cheese (my 2nd Beaufort effort) hovers around 96%RH (48-55F). It's doing well though.

The minicave also helps to keep dust and any flying critters from finding the cheese.

-Boofer-

[Jessica_H]

I'm resurecting this one more time.

Ok, I have images of my Gouda and my Parm.  I know my Gouda is dry...there's no moisture on my wooden cutting board it's sitting on.  The sides are HARD and the top and bottom have a little bit of elasticity but not much.  There's a very fine white powder that I see on the top and bottom (very very similar to what I seen in the 2nd picture posted by Boofer).  And as of last night there's little specks of dark mold.

The directions said to dry 3-10 days and then wax.  But at 10 days it was still leaving moisture on the cutting board.  It's at 16 days now.  Did I let it dry too long?  Is this "too" dry now?  I was going to wax it in the next few days but I'll wipe off the specks of mold first.

(White powder)

(Whole cheese at day 14)

The Parm has been drying in the same environment (52 degrees, 55% humidity) for 11 days.  It has a very shiny look and is equally hard all the way around.  It still had good "spring" to it if you squish it...like a tennis ball.  It feels very dry to the touch, but after 24 hours on the cutting board it's still leaving a little moisture.

Is it dry enough to wax?  Or do I really wait until there's NO moisture?  I like the feel of this rind a lot better than the Gouda.  The Gouda's side rind is so hard I can't imagine eating it...


(My Parm at 9 days)


The other difference between the cheeses...the Parm was in a saturated brine for 6 hours (bad directions) and the Gouda was only in for 3 hours.  The Gouda is about an inch taller than the Parm.  The Parm had that shiny uniform rind within a few days where as the Gouda has had a "matte" finish the whole time.

Thanks in advance!

[morfeo]

When you read on the recipe (air dry at room temperature), what  is the best room temperature to do it. My house on the summer is 75f to 85f.
I usually don't dry the cheeses at room temperature because I think my house is to warm, as soon as I get the cheese out of the brine I placed it inside a container and them straight to the cave.
I don't know if is because of that my last Gouda was kind of soft on the center and a little acid too, I dried it on the cave for week and a half and them waxed.

[Cheese Head]

@Boofer, great looking cheeses!

@Jessica_H, hard to tell from picture if that white powder mold is Geotrichum candidum (good) or Penicillium candidum (bad unless you are making bloomy white mold cheese like Camembert/Brie).

There's a Wiki: Air Drying article that should help in your questions, in first few days I think best not to use wooden boards as cheese is giving off a lot of moisture and if not wicked away well by wood and wet can be a location for molds to multiply or if really wet for yeasts to take hold. Your parm should have been dry at 11 days.

@morfeo, on air drying temp, I air dry at 78F in summer (AC setting) which is fine, just have to take into account that everything is faster at higher temperatures.