Mistake, drying Colby before brining...

[Mornic]

Hello, Im a home cheesemaker, making Colby, this is about my fifth hard cheese to date.
I am not using good milk, only grocery store type. Thought I'd get that off my chest

I made a colby cheese recently and forgot to brine, ended up drying for 3 days, whoops.
My question is, I added mycodore to milk for a natural rind, but after realizing I should've brined it, I made a quick batch of brine and submerged it for a day. Rind was really yellow at that point and super dry. Anyway, I patted it dry and put it in the "cave" : an old wine fridge. Temperature is around 12 C and humidity is a dismal 68. Can I hold out hope for ever seeing a natural rind on this thing? Was so excited to start experimenting with that mycodore! Ugh.

[mikekchar]

To get the mould growing, you'll probably have to up the humidity.  I recommend getting just a plastic tupperware box.  It should be about 3 times the volume of the cheese (about 3 qts per lb, or 1.5 L per 500g).  I will say, though, that the rind isn't completely closed (there are lots of cracks).  Blue mould is likely to show up and will inhabit those spaces, potentially changing the flavour of the cheese.  Of course, see how it goes.  I find that mould shows up around the 1 week mark, more or less.

[River Bottom Farm]

I would be more concerned that the pH bottomed out after that long without the salt from the brine to shut down the culture. You will probably get a dry flaky cheese but it's still worth a try. Up the humidity like Mike says and let it grow.

[Mornic]

Okay, thanks you two! @ Mike: I really need to spring for a proper press, the wood clamps I'm using are really letting me down!
@River bottom Farm: I have it in a Tupperware container now, is there a point at which you'd both "quit trying" for mold development and cro-o-vac this baby?

[River Bottom Farm]

I don't have much experience with mycodore but I would expect if mold or linens haven't shown up in 3 weeks they likely won't or at least won't be prolific