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##Place the cheese on the drying board and try to keep it somewhere as close to 50 degrees F as possible. It is winter and my basement is about 55 degrees so that's what I did.<br />[[File:gouda_16.jpg|600px]]
##Flip the cheese daily to ensure even drying.
##If any mold forms, wipe it off with a cheese cloth dipped in vinegar. Check the image below and you will be able to see that there is a rind that has formed on the cheese. I read, later, that the optimal drying conditions is 50 degrees F and 85% humidity. I dried my cheese in closer to 50% humidity. I suspect that the dry environment contributed to the cheese forming the rind as the outside dried too quickly. '''*NOTE''' Waxing will eliminate the rind, see the updates at the end of the article.
#Waxing
##The last, optional, step is the wax the cheese like the professionals do!
##*I'll update this in the future with a note on which techniques seems to hold up the best.<br />[[File:gouda_23.jpg|600px]]
##As for clean up. You can see that a real mess was made of the board during this process. I scraped excess wax off of the board and put it back in the pot for use later. Hot water and a couple paper towels seems to do the trick to for final cleanup. It's hard to see, but the brush has a good bit of wax left in it. This should be fine as it will melt and liquefy next time you do this process. Also, the board, and even the pot, are very slightly stained pink.<br />[[File:gouda_22.jpg|600px]][[File:gouda_25.jpg|600px]]
##As for the excess wax, '''DON'T DO THIS''' I lined a small tuperware with foil and poured it in to let it dry into a block. Unfortunately ###I must have poked a hole in the foil as I pressed it into the tuperware because some wax leaked through and underneath sorta gluing the foil/wax into the tuperware. I had to float it in a larger bowl of hot water to warm the wax up the bottom to get it out.###The wax is too weak/brittle. It didn't really conform, cleanly, to the shape of the tuperware and instead made little ridges & valleys. Be careful with As a result I had to peel the brittle foil or use another material like wax paperoff in little 1/2" squares as it kept tearing. ###If I were to do this step again I think I'll put d just poor the block in hot wax into some hot water. Wax floats and tends to cool into a ziplock bag for next timenice floating disc that is much easier to get free.<br />[[File:gouda_24.jpg|600px]]
==1 Month Update==
After letting the cheese sit at room temperature (between 65 and 75 degrees F) for a month we opened up and tried another section. It still tasted good, but the most interesting part is that the rind was gone. I believe that after being waxed, and sitting, the moisture in the cheese redistributed to make all of the cheese an even texture.
==2 Month Update==
After letting the cheese sit at room temperature (between 65 and 75 degrees F) for two month we opened up and tried another section. The flavor didn't change much as far as I can remember. Everything was still good. still no rind.
==References==
*[http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/1270920.Cheesemaking_Made_Easy Cheese Making Made Easy: 60 Delicious Varieties by Ricki & Robert Carroll]
[[Category: Bushcraft]]