iratherfly - I hear you about the rindless and humidity. That's my current dilemma. I am using a college-dorm type of fridge where I fiddled with the controller so that it keeps the innards at 50 degrees F. For humidity, I am filling the bottle container in the bottom with water and have a small towel providing wicking. I have not hygrometer, so cannot measure the humidity level inside there - yet. (I have a hygormeter on order - should arrive in a couple of days.)
As to my comment about "dry" cheese, well, that's because after I removed it from the brine and patted it down, it retained some moisture and I was worried it was too wet. By now, there is a bit of a rind on the outside (i will not know how thick until I cut into it...) I do note that this cheese is developing differently than my previous attempt. The rind is NOT becoming yellow, which my first attempt did. Now, it could be that this was because my first attempt was from one gallon of milk so the pancaking effect lead to a color shift, or maybe since it was in a very dry environment (leading to the cracking I described above), or maybe because I spread a thin coat of Canola Oil on it after it was dry initially. Not sure.
As to the rind flora, it may be developing, I am not sure. The middle of the wheel has some whitish powderish looking stuff on it. I've been afraid to wipe it off, because it might eventually develop into what is desired. Again, I am too new at this to know what I am looking at....
I really like the idea of vacuuming, but have not stepped up to purchasing one of those devices yet. So, cannot vacuum seal. :-(
MargaretSmall - I am happy with the way it looks right now and hope that I am not destroying it by being in too dry of an environment. I thought I'd give it a month and then taste it, but it sure is hard to wait...
