Author Topic: Waxed pepper jack leaking  (Read 7012 times)

Offline Schnecken Slayer

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Re: Waxed pepper jack leaking
« Reply #15 on: March 15, 2013, 07:50:59 PM »
Looks like hydrogen peroxide.
There is no Hydrogen peroxide in the Milton product. However, if you found some with suitable strength it could also be used.
The other product you could use, although you would need to rinse the peppers well, is camden tablets as used in wine making. These kill all the unwanted yeasts and spores on the grapes by releasing sulphur dioxide. (Not recommended if you are asthmatic)
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

meyerandray

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Re: Waxed pepper jack leaking
« Reply #16 on: March 16, 2013, 09:30:08 AM »
I re-waxed today, it was looking and feeling pretty dry, I don't have a vacuum sealer, so I will just keep an eye on it if it starts to leak again.  The mold did not come back, neither the blue nor the blackish one that maybe was never there, and I was just being paranoid.  I wiped it down once a day while it was re-drying with vinegar and salt solution.  I hope it will make it through the rest of its time aging!  Thanks for all your help, and I will definitely sanitize in the future, dry out better before waxing, and be much more careful with the temps during the make!!

tnbquilt

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Re: Waxed pepper jack leaking
« Reply #17 on: March 16, 2013, 02:05:30 PM »
I make pepper jack with fresh peppers. I chop up a jalopeno and put it in a little bowl and cover it with the amount of salt that I plan on putting in my cheese. I do that 1st, so that it sits while I make the cheese. Then in the end I toss it in. I read that on a different cheese forum, and I've never had the peppers mold.

I also put a tablespoon of red pepper flakes in 1/2 cup of water and boil it, and I add that to the curds also. It adds a little heat.

Pepper Jack is a very moist cheese. I have had weeping after I waxed it, but then I learned to make sure it was dry before I waxed it.

We seem to make and eat a lot of pepper jack. It's my husband's favorite cheese. It goes well on sandwiches, hamburgers, stuffed inside of the hamburger, and cheese dips. We also just eat it with crackers.

I need to make some next weekend.

Offline Schnecken Slayer

  • Old Cheese
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  • Location: Newcastle, Australia
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  • Making cheese since October 2012
Re: Waxed pepper jack leaking
« Reply #18 on: March 16, 2013, 09:01:50 PM »
Salting the peppers sounds like an easy solution Tammy. Thank you for for the tip.
-Bill
One day I will add something here...

meyerandray

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Re: Waxed pepper jack leaking
« Reply #19 on: March 16, 2013, 09:42:37 PM »
Tammy, do you salt them in a colander? I imagine they sweat, so do you put them in the curds with their liquid? How long do you age your pepper jack before tasting?

High Altitude

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Re: Waxed pepper jack leaking
« Reply #20 on: March 21, 2013, 03:45:52 AM »
Tammy -  I experienced almost exactly the same thing with my pepperjack.  You'll see in the first photo that it is nice coming out of the press, however as the hours and days passed during drying, it flattened out by about half.  You can see it compared to another black waxed cheese that was similar original size in the third pic.

I used dry red pepperflakes in this make, but used fresh habaneros/jalepenos in the first.  I read somewhere that I should chop and blanch fresh peppers for a couple of minutes, and then pat the peppers dry before adding to the curds. 

Both cheeses are still aging so cannot give you results of either, but can say that neither of the cheeses has leaked in the wax (that I can tell), so I'm hoping for the best.  I do tend to air dry those wetter cheeses until I am positive there will be no further draining...maybe too long sometimes?  :o.

Hoping the best for yours  :D!