Tomorrow makes day 7 and my cheese still hasn't dried entirely. Sides are good but every time I flip it the bottom is still moist. Humidity here averaging 70-80 and room temp is 70-72. How many more days should I give it before I just go ahead and vac it and throw it into the cave?
If you are going for a natural rind, then definitely go for it any time. The extra humidity won't be an issue. You'll want to get some geo going as soon as you can assuming it isn't already. If you are going for a clean rind, I'd still go for it. Just take it out and flip it every day while keeping an eye out for mould.
I had a Caerphilly that took well over two weeks of flipping before I felt like vac bagging it.
Then I had to open it every week and pat it down with paper towels, wipe out the bag and reseal.
It still turned out to be a very good cheese ^-^
Caerphilly is a pretty forgiving cheese, I'll bet it will turn out just fine.
H
Definitely put it in the cave, but I wouldn't be in any hurry to vac bag it. I generally put the cheese in the cave as soon as it comes out of the press (or brine), and let it do its drying there. With a short-aged cheese like a Caerphilly, I like to let it age out without ever bagging it if I can keep the blue mold at bay.
I try to do the same thing the one that was so wet I believe was one of my first Caerphilly