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I live in Vancouver Canada. Our climate is a pretty damp one, even in the winter months. I have several cheeses maturing now. Two (gouda and cheddar) are out in the open, no tupperware. Three are in a tupperware without a piece of wet paper towel. The room they are in is around 52 - 54 degrees F. The two that are out in the open are doing great, a nice rind, no cracking, no mold. The ones in the tupperwares are still quite moist and one (edam) has developed a little bit of mold and the Havarti is still quite damp. i turn them every day, and wipe off the mold with brine if it pops up. They were made almost 2 weeks ago.
My question is - should i take the other ones out of the tupperware and let them air dry more? (they air dried at least a few days before going into the tupperware). As I said, our climate up here is pretty damp, and maybe the tupperware is too humid for them to properly age. The inside of the container is beaded with moisture ever time I go in to turn them. Any suggestions? Thanks! *dalyn

It's tough this time of year here in the PNW to age in containers, unless you're doing bloomy rinds and blues and smear rinds. Can you leave it partially opened, so that the humidity can escape and so you have air exchange?

If not, have you thought about waxing the wheels or using vac bags?

Hi Dalyn- it sounds like you are correct in your too high humidity in the Tupperware especially since you stated that there was no wet towel in the container. The fact that the sides are beaded up with moisture would be a good clue. The volume of the container comes into play here so maybe with the three wheels in the container there is not enough volume of air to cheese. Also you probably need to dry the wheels a little more before putting them in the container. The temp of the storage area sounds OK.

I plan to get some wax, however i have to order it online and it takes almost 2 weeks to get here from the states. i think i'll take them out of the containers for now. they were slightly cracked open, and still the moisture. for now i'm guessing the moisture in the air should be sufficient, just wanted to check with you guys. Thank you for your quick response! *dalyn

If you keep them in the Tupperware, remember to wipe away the condensation.

I have a wheel in a Rubbermaid container right now. I had to close the lid this morning because it looked like the rind was drying a little too quickly. This afternoon it reads 68F/61%RH which is actually on the low side for humidity. That's with the lid closed. There is snow outside so there should be ambient moisture in the air.

I noticed you quoted temperature readings but none for humidity. Do you have a hygrometer? If you don't, that might be useful.

-Boofer-

no, I don't have a hygrometer or a PH reader. They are on my Christmas list! Right now we also have snow on the ground but it will be raining by tomorrow. The cold in Vancouver goes right to the bone due to our humidity. I'll pull them out, and as I check them every day - look for any small cracks that might be forming. If they do i'll pop them back in the containers. Is 52 - 54 degrees F an OK temp? They are in my husbands office (poor guy) and the temp probably goes up to 60 when he has the door open. Will this temp difference every day (for 3 hours) effect the aging?

The hygrometer is a bit cheaper than a pH meter. I'm just a tad further south than you and my forecast is calling for snow either tonight or Thursday. Currently my outdoor thermometer sits at 30 degrees F.

52-54 should be just fine for cheese. Your husband has his office in your cheese-curing room, huh?  He must be very resilient at that temperature. I can't imagine anyone working in that environment unless they're working in the food industry. But then, I guess he is...in a way!

-Boofer-

He was in the Canadian Forces for 20 years. 50 degrees is NOTHING to him. Oh and my cheese-curing room is in HIS office! *d

Quote from: dalyn on November 25, 2010, 12:18:39 AM
Oh and my cheese-curing room is in HIS office! *d

Yeah, I knew that.

-Boofer-