Humidity during eye formation

[berrys66]

I started a Swiss style cheese at the weekend. I can keep the temperature in the range 20-23C/68-73F fairly easily, but what sort of humidity range should I be aiming for during the eye forming stage? The only advice I have found is that it shouldn't be too low otherwise the rind will crack. I can get the humidity up to about 90-95%, but I'm guessing I'd be in for a whole heap of mould trouble at that level.

[steffb503]

I am having the same issue.
My recipe only says "in a humid spot" it does not give any numbers. From Ricki Carroll's " Cheese making made Easy".
Also it says to keep here till eye formation occurs. Mine has been at 68-74 degrees for only 4 days. I am starting to see eyes but once again my recipe falls short of info. Do I vacuum seal at any point? There is no way i am going to get a rind at a high humidity Am I?

[berrys66]

I'm about 9 days into the "eye phase" now. It takes around 3 weeks. Temperature has been pretty constant around 22C. I have been recording the weight of the cheese, relative humidity and temperature twice per day. When the humidity goes above 90% my cheese starts gaining weight, presumably from absorbing moisture. When it goes below 90% it starts losing weight slowly (around 2g per day), below 80% I am getting significant moisture loss (around 5g per day). I am trying to keep it at around 85% so that moisture loss is not too great, but mould growth isn't too high either. Been getting some mould for the last few days which I've been treating with spirit vinegar and saturated salt solution.

Mine is only a small cheese (540g out of the press), so has a large surface area to volume ratio which means it's going to lose moisture quicker than a larger cheese. Definitely, humidity below 80% for me is really bad because it is going to dry out too quickly and probably crack, but for a larger cheese humidity below this might be ok.

[Jason M]

I just left mine on the kitchen counter for the 3 weeks.  It usually gets humid in there because of the dishwasher, cooking, etc.  Mine started bulging at the top and bottom after about 5 days.  That's when I knew the eyes were forming inside.  I used the recipe from Ricki's book too.  Made 2lbs.  I just cut into it and it turned out great!

[Boofer]

I just left mine on the kitchen counter for the 3 weeks.  It usually gets humid in there because of the dishwasher, cooking, etc.  Mine started bulging at the top and bottom after about 5 days.  That's when I knew the eyes were forming inside.  I used the recipe from Ricki's book too.  Made 2lbs.  I just cut into it and it turned out great!

Looks great. How long did you age it? How does it taste?

-Boofer-

[berrys66]

Hi Jason,

Your cheese looks great Like boofer, I'd like to know how long you aged it for after completion of eye formation.

Mine started noticably swelling after 3-4 days, but it's now coming up to 2 weeks and the swelling seems to have slowed down considerably, in fact it doesn't really look any more swollen than it did 4-5 days ago. Did the same happen with yours?

[curdsandwine]

Jason, I definitely have eye envy!  It looks like you might have used a taller mold for pressing than I use, did you use a tomme mold or "large hard cheese" mold?

[Jason M]

Hey all.  Sorry for the delay in posting back.  And thanks for the kind words!  So the Swiss came out pretty good.  It has a nutty, piquant flavor to it.  It's a bit dryer than a normal Swiss but I like it that way.  I don't have a "cave" so my basement tends to be dyer which is what I'm thinking caused this to lean that way.  Also, the milk was very high in fat content.  Actually it was "cream on top" fresh from a micro-dairy not far from my house.  Great jersey cow milk.  Very yellow!

And the mold was the M3 Ricki sells on her site, thhp://www.cheesemaking.com  I'm not too fond of the bottomless molds (lost a Gouda in it while pressing too much) but it worked OK.  I'd like to try the Tomme but I can't find one the right size.  I only do 2 gallon batches so I want something taller and not as wide.  I have a cheese press now so the pressing should go MUCH smoother than using plates and weights!

As far as the aging, I followed Ricki's recipe to the "t" for the most part.  I did cold age it in the fridge.  I put it in a big Tupperware dish with a soaked cheesecloth for the humidity.  Then I turned it loose on my kitchen counter for 3 weeks.  That's when the gas started to form my holes!  It took a few days to start bulging and once it did, it stopped after 4 or 5 days.