Air Drying - Humidity Level

[Jessica_H]

Hello again,

Ok, I've done so much reading the last few days...but I still can't figure out what humidity level the cheese is supposed to DRY at. The directions I have don't talk about humidity at all but they say to let it dry at 50 degrees.  Its at about 55 degrees right now and about 55% humidity. 

I've seen that it should AGE at 85% humidity...but should it dry at that same level? 

My directions say to let it dry 3-10 days and then wax...(I'm making a Gouda with a cheesemaking.com recipe).

Thanks in advance!

For the fun of it...here's a picture of my Gouda after drying for just over 24 hours.

[linuxboy]

Dry enough to create a rind without cracking. Usually around 70%-75%.

[smilingcalico]

You'll find that anything linuxboy says will always be accurate.  There's a lot of other knowledgeable people on the site. By the way, I love those ricotta molds, they're great for the beginning cheesemaker, functional for many cheeses, though I haven't done a pressed cheese in one.