Made my 3rd one, reason I did another one so quick was in case my other one got contaminated. Had a very hot day instantly while it was out and saw small black fungus on top, so spritzed it with vintager.
Tasted my first attempt and it came out like a cheddar.
Looks very nice, did you add cheese color to it (the one on the right) ? is it look a bit craky?
We always speak about room temp (like dry your cheese in room temp for 2-4 days when u remove your cheddar from press) , in my kitchen in summer it could be 30-33C day, and 25C night humidity 30 &#xRH;, what would happened for cheese in this temp while you are drying it or even when you leave it in the press for the first 24 hours?
i know that room temp is somthing to 20C-21C.
I used turmeric for color, added a bit too much, it dried out because back then I used paraffin wax till I got proper cheese wax, my website shows what happened.
Leaving a cheese in very warm room, in my experience is that the potential of negative mold, Unless u have it in brine, I also rub/sprinkle sea salt all over it to prevent mold happening (negative, the positive mold is not affected my salt). The Gouda I made a few weeks ago I found I did not have enough salt in my brine, was weak, and we had a jump in temp, 40c, inside was 30’s and minute black mold looking like trees started to grow on top, wish I had taken a picture, so wiped it with vintager to kill the mold and then salt it.
paraffin cracks, if u look at my website u can see the pics, its not flexible enough, would have to mix it 50/50 with beeswax, or it will crack and dry out and mold gets in.
For me, 9 hours would be the minimum, I’d go as much as 24 hours on a 4 pound round. You can just rub some salt on the rind, some of it will get absorbed and it will also help stop any mold.
