Humidity for aging Swiss

[Zinger]

My Swiss recipe calls for an aging period of one week at 50 - 55 degrees at 85% humidity. Any suggestions on how get a humidity level that high at that temperature?

[zenith1]

you'll find that most people have an initial problem trying to solve that issue. Follow this linkhttp://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/board,181.0.html here in the forum and search humidity. You will find a lot of solutions based on the type of aging cave you are using.

[green zebra]

With my experience, you can simply a small bowl of water that fits into the ripening box with or without a damp paper towel or two to achieve the desired humidity. 

I would like to share my experience with making swiss cheese. My problem is that i cannot achieve the holes in the cheese. My cheese is about 3 weeks old and so far no holes. The temp and humidity are either dead on or very close to the recipe (Ricki Carroll's...have not found another- if anyone would like to share, i would be grateful) and other than offering a very strong odor and producing mold, the cheese has not transformed much.
After doing more research, i have discovered that in order for the propionic shermanii to do its job, it needs a very large cheese mass. My recipe called for only 2 gallons and the larger home made cheeses need almost 30 gallons!!

[DeejayDebi]

It is not that the PS can't do it's job it's that the holes are smaller. What would happen if you had a 1 inch hole in a 2 inch cheese? BLAM! Blow out! Thicker is better and condition must be such that the cheese is pliable enough to stretch with the expansion of gases without splitting open.

Search for Saliors post something like "My Baby is Swelling" we all learned a lot about making the swiss styles in that thread. Anut also porduced a very nice Jarlsburg (I think) with great eyes with just a few gallons of milk only a short time ago. It's all about precise ripening conditions.