Manchego rind cracking

[Kjeffus]

Hello! I have been aging this manchego for one month. I oiled the rind with a paste made of olive oil and paprika about 10 days into aging when I began to see some molds forming. I had been keeping it in a container at around 85-90 percent humidity but I felt like it was keeping too much moisture so I removed it to a wooden board w mat about a week ago. Today, I noticed a crack has formed in the rind. I wasn't sure if increasing humidity would help or if I need to oil again or something else. Thanks for any advice!

[Stinky]

Yeah, this is the result of too low humidity. It is important to note that mold _will_ grow, albeit somewhat less with that rub than otherwise, and as long as it's not taking over and just brushing it every day or two keeps it from ever becoming too prevalent it's nothing to worry about. However, a relatively small (10-15%) change in humidity downwards will typically result in cracking. If the mold is overwhelming the cheese, then try decreasing the humidity ever so slightly (by cracking the lid of the container a little, for example). As long as you're in the middle, you will always have some mold, which is normal and okay and not anything to worry about (if you're wrong about this on the high side, when you eat the cheese it'll taste like mold well inside the paste and you'd know to use lower humidity, on the low it'll crack), but just brush it regularly and don't stress out about it.

As it is, putting it back in a higher humidity container will prevent it from cracking even more, but the existing one won't close up on its own. Just use some lard or butter and plug up the crack, then stick it back.

[Kjeffus]

Thanks so much for the reply. I reapplied the olive oil and paprika paste and placed it back in a container to increase humidity. The crack is very hard to see now I'm assuming bc the paste plugged the hole? I'm going to continue and thanks for the info on the molds I won't be afraid if a few show up now!!

[Stinky]

Oh good! Glad to hear.