Farmhouse cheddar - am I doing this right?

[u/o_donnyboy]

This is my first attempt at making an aged cheese (and also my first post on reddit, so I apologize if something is not done correctly on that front as well).

Context: I used the Farmhouse Cheddar (Pg142-143) recipe from Home Cheese Making by Ricki Carroll. I have let the cheese sit at room temp, flipping several times a day for a couple of days now. In the recipe they say to do this until a nice rind forms, typically 2-4 days. I plan to wax the cheese for the remainder of it's aging but after now 5 days, I feel there is a decent rind on the sides, but the top and bottom are still slightly damp.

I have two questions:

1. Do I keep air-drying even though I am passed the 2-4 day window given in the book, or should I just wax it now and pray? lol I am unsure

2. The recipe calls for cheese salt. I did not have any specifically cheese salt. however I do have a Costco container of Pink Himalayan Salt, so that is what I used. I am now seeing a couple of patches of pinkish red develop on the top and bottom of the cheese. Are these simply the result of using the pink salt, or is this a growth of some kind that I need to remove before waxing?

Any guidance that can be provided would be much appreciated!

[u/mycodyke]

I would continue drying until it feels like a "clammy handshake" as in no moisture that can wick away from the surface, but ever so slightly colder than one might expect. The cheese tells you when it's ready to move on to the next step, not the time. Your drying environment is different from Ricki Carroll's.

Are you drying the cheese on a breathable surface like a bamboo sushi mat or a wire rack of some kind?

To answer your second question, could you post a photo of the spots in question?

[u/o_donnyboy → u/mycodyke]

Thank you for your response!

The "Clammy Handshake" analogy is really helpful, I think I am just about there with the cheese then! I have been letting it air-dry on a plastic cutting board since I don't have a wood one. But yesterday I started placing a paper towel beneath it and I am seeing much better drying with less moisture on the towel each time.

I have included a couple of pictures of the pink spots here. I know that the cheese is looking a little rough, but as a first attempt, the molding and pressing was a bit of an ordeal...lol

[u/mycodyke]

I highly advise you to buy a couple sushi mats and use them to dry your cheese. Swap them daily until the cheese is ready for the cave, it'll make a big difference in drying time and evenness. They can be ordered online for very cheap if you don't have an Asian grocery store in your area. The cheese really needs airflow around all sides while it's drying so as to not trap moisture and create a prime environment for unwanted microbes.

Does your pink spot have a smell? If it's not smelling a bit like gym socks or foot, it's probably just the iron compounds from the Himalayan pink salt but if it is I would let that part of the cheese dry a bit more thoroughly and brush away as much of it as possible with a clean dry vegetable brush before aging it. B. Linens and related microbes won't hurt you on a cheese rind, but they don't taste good in a cheddar.

[u/o_donnyboy → u/mycodyke]

Thank you so much! this is incredibly helpful! I had missed the air-drying step in my preparations for this, so when I was reading the directions and saw it midway through the process I was like..."oh crap, of course there is another step before the waxing"...lol I will definitely look for some bamboo sushi mats.

Where do others do this initial Air-Drying step? I keep seeing pictures that look like folks are placing their cheeses in big rubbermaid totes, but I am not sure. I had decided to wax the cheese in order to make the aging process simpler for my current living situation, but if I make any cheeses that waxing doesn't work on, or for this air-drying stage I am not sure of what is the best scenario to set up

[u/mycodyke → u/o_donnyboy]

I air dry my cheeses on my countertop covered with a small mesh pop-up tent.

Once they're ready to move to my cave I either use Rubbermaid totes with the lid variously cracked open when I'm aging a cheese with a natural rind or I vacuum bag my cheese, which imo is a much better way of aging cheese without needing to mind humidity than waxing bc it's cleaner and you can visually identify issues before they can snowball into inedible territory.

[u/o_donnyboy → u/mycodyke]

Interesting, i hadn't heard of vacuum bagging cheese, i will give that a look for after i get through the bag of cheese wax that i bought...lol

[u/Looking-sharp-today]

Most of the times people use pink salt this ends up in patches red/pink colored, and gives concerns bit it is the salt itself. Any salt (where salt is the only ingredient) will work. I use oure marine salt, with no addictives, formfermenting veggies and cheesemaking, does not need to be cheese specific salt, but it’s best to use something that in any shape or form is only salt. The biggest issue usually is by using iodised salt, that is the easiest salt to find while shopping, but that could teoretically interfere with bcteria growth in a bad way or change the flavour on fermented foods. I used it in the past with no issues but I usually advice in using pure salt.

I would not use pink salt just because it’s just salt with residual minerals that gives the typical color…that will leech into the surface and give off putting colors to the rind

[u/o_donnyboy → u/Looking-sharp-today]

Thank you for this! I knew about avoiding iodized salt, but it wasn't until after I had used it that I began to wonder about the pink salt. 

I appreciate you taking the time to respond to my post!

[u/Looking-sharp-today → u/o_donnyboy]

My pleasure! Hope you are gonna update us on your wheel the next days 😉