My cheese-making package arrived today, yay! The cultures went straight into the freezer, as instructed. The problem is the annatto. It says on the label, ‘Store in a cool, dark place. Do not refrigerate’. There is no such thing as a cool place in a Japanese summer that isn’t in the fridge. Can I keep the annatto in the eagerly-awaited and hopefully soon-to-arrive wine cellar? Does that count as refrigeration? Any other suggestions about storing annatto?

Now that the cultures are here I can start planning my first foray into scaled-up (16l) cheese-making. I’m thinking of using a 20cm stainless steel perforated drum (actually the inner sleeve of my pasta pot) for my mould, the problem being that the maximum size my vacuum packer can handle is a 26 cm bag, ie the cheese won’t fit if it’s more than a couple of cm thick. I read somewhere that the size of the cheese affects the way it matures; would I be making a big mistake if I cut the cheese in half or even quarters after pressing, to vacuum-pack it? Or should I try to develop a rind, and only vacuum pack it after it has matured? Would I get a better cheese if I used the 12-cm mould (a nut tin with the bottom removed) I’ve been using so far,  to create a longer, cylindrical cheese that will fit into the vacuum pack?

If your house is air-conditioned I would just store the Annato in a cupboard. Otherwise the wine cellar would be fine.
Cheese size most definitely does affect the way a cheese matures and ages! Instead of vacuum packing the cheese, have you considered doing a washed rind instead? This avoids the need for either waxing or vacuum packing.

Thanks for the quick reply!
No air-conditioning, except in the evenings .... so into the wine cellar it goes.

I thought washed rind cheeses (not the same as just letting the cheese develop a dry rind on the outside?) were for the advanced cheesemaker (=someone who knows what they’re doing - definitely not me yet!) Do they get very smelly? What I really want to make is the nice gentle British cheeses of my youth - Lancashire, Red Leicester, Double Gloucester, Wensleydale, Caerphilly, or a reasonable facsimile. And at some point, Parmesan.

A washed rind is not at all difficult, it is simply washing the cheese over with a damp cloth once a day. The cloth is dipped in a brine solution (usually a 20% solution) or else a dilute vinegar. Common sense will tell you how wet to make it based upon how much the cheese has dried out over the day. Over time an orange tinged rind will develop. In my experience most washed rind cheese does not develop a strong aroma although there are a couple of exceptions.
The cheeses you name, excepting Parmesan, are all either waxed or air aged. Parmesan is washed exactly as I have described above. Personally I prefer wax coatings on cheese if I have to seal the surface and I find the wax easy to apply.
Cheers
Ulf

Addressing your concern regarding mold size:  I’m thinking that a country as industrialized as is Japan would have a plumbing supply store.  Just ask them to cut a section of pipe to the size you require.  I use 6” PVC and have for years.  You could probably get stainless, but it would be very pricey.  You can then drill drain holes in the side and presto - instant cheese mold.

Cheese wax isn’t available here and shipping costs are prohibitive because of the weight. I may be able to persuade a relative possibly heading to the US in the near future to stuff some in her suitcase on the way back, another alternative would be to get another relative to send me some from the UK by sea mail, but until and unless either of those things happens, I’m afraid waxing is not an option at the moment. Waxed cheeses look very posh - is dipping better, or do I need to ask her to fetch a brush back, as well?

I considered using PVC pipe as a mould, but reckoned why spend money when I’ve already got the holey metal pasta thingy…..do you think 20cm (about 8”) is too big for 16l (4 US gallons)? Would the cheese be too flat? I’ll be heading to the local home centre at the weekend in search of bits of wood and sticks to make a press, I can look for pipe at the same time.

The wine cellar was delivered today, is now installed and switched on and providing a home for two and a half small, highly dubious cheeses and an unopened bottle of annatto. Despite all the nervous questions and uncertainties, I am a happy bunny.

I use a 6” mold and with a 4 gal. batch, I get a thickness of right near 4”.  I’m thinking you’d get about 2.5 to 3” in thickness.  That sounds borderline, especially if you’re going to completely air dry and form a thick rind.  I’d suggest drying until the surface is just dry to the touch and then vacuum seal.  Any chance you’d have a pot large enough to accommodate 5 Gal?

I haven’t got the pot yet - another item to acquire at the weekend. I thought 16l because that seems to be what most of the recipes in 200 Easy Cheeses call for (also 1 packet of culture supposedly does 8l, so easy reckoning), but I suppose I could just as easily look for a 20l pot. I take it a 5gal cheese would be easier to handle? (No doubt I’ll be asking questions about scaling up recipes…)

A 3"x8” (7.5x20cm) cheese won’t fit in the 26cm bag. I suppose I could try air-drying/washing it to start off with, and if it looked like I couldn’t handle it cut it in half and vacuum pack the halves. Or insist that my s-i-l make that trip to America and bring back some wax tout de suite.