Author Topic: Wax my Lancashire?  (Read 1891 times)

waterdalemama

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Wax my Lancashire?
« on: May 17, 2013, 06:21:28 PM »
I made a 4 gal. Lancashire on Monday using a recipe from MrsKK and its been drying since then....it looks and smells really good! I know the recipe says just to age it in a ripening box and wipe off any mold that happens but I am wondering if it would work to wax it so I can age it for 4-8 weeks without having to worry about it getting moldy?

I guess what I am looking for is a nice basic sandwich cheese that doesn't need to age too long and melts nicely and that I don't have to babysit the whole time its aging....I've been thinking of trying butterkase and Colby, too, to see which we like the best. If I wax a cheese and put it in the cheese fridge can I just pretty much forget about until we're ready to eat it (unless I see something going wrong under the wax)? I could make a 4 gal. cheese several times a week with the milk we get from our cows and I want to be able to find one that works well for me so I can make it over and over with good results.

JeffHamm

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Re: Wax my Lancashire?
« Reply #1 on: May 17, 2013, 06:28:22 PM »
Hi,

MrsKK's Lancashire is a good cheese.  I just cut into one recently.  This make, after a week or so, I started wiping it down with a saturated brine, one face per day (the upper one) and the sides every other day.  I did this for about ten days.  This resulted in a very nice, easy to care for cheese.  The rind required a bit of brushing every now and then, but nothing too major.  There's a thread on it here somewhere, so check that out.  Ah, here it is: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,11113.0.html

- Jeff

waterdalemama

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Re: Wax my Lancashire?
« Reply #2 on: May 17, 2013, 07:08:47 PM »
Yes, I've been eyeing your Lancashires..... I think that's what made me try that one first once I finally got my real cheese mold the other day! I'd really like to have something I don't need to wash everyday.... that would really add up in time if I made a cheese every other day and they all needed washed.... I have 9 nine children and homeschool so time is not easy to come by around here!

JeffHamm

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Re: Wax my Lancashire?
« Reply #3 on: May 18, 2013, 02:21:46 AM »
The washing is pretty quick though.  Just keep a jar of brine in the cheese cave.  Dampen a cloth, wipe, and done.  You should turn the cheese every day anyway, so this only adds a few seconds to that process.  And, it's only for a week or so.  But, that being said, I only have two kids, and they take up a lot of time so with 9, well, all I can think is how did you find the time to make the cheese in the first place!  Maybe get one of the older ones to wash the cheese as one of their chores? Share the joy! :) 

I've also just let Lancashire age naturally, brushing off mould if it forms.  That works well too, so the washing was just something I tried on the last one and it worked well.  I wouldn't bother waxing though.  I only do that for cheeses I'm going to age for a long time (as in a year or so).

- Jeff

george

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Re: Wax my Lancashire?
« Reply #4 on: May 18, 2013, 09:19:03 AM »
On the other hand, a vacuum sealer could become your cheese best friend - it sure is mine   :)

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Wax my Lancashire?
« Reply #5 on: May 18, 2013, 09:30:24 AM »
Or coconut oil could be another best friend.  I put it on once the cheese is dry and it's pretty much good to go without much further care.  Just watch and add another layer if a bit of PC or wild molds try to gain a foothold.

waterdalemama

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Re: Wax my Lancashire?
« Reply #6 on: May 18, 2013, 06:50:14 PM »
Good ideas! Thanks!
 
Does the coconut oil leave any kind of coconut smell or flavor?

I would love to get a vacuum sealer....maybe this is a good reason to add to all my other good reasons :lol: We like to process our own pigs and make sausage and bacon and last year we borrowed a friend's vac. sealer.

When you just brush the mold off how thick does the rind end up if the cheese is only aged 4-8 weeks?

I actually did end up waxing this cheese last night.....just for the fun of it! I wanted a waxed cheese in my fridge so it would look like I had at least gotten started making cheese :lol: It was a fun evening thing to do after the children were in bed and it turned out great. I'll probably try some your other ideas, too, with some up-coming cheeses. I'm hoping there will be lots to experiment with!

Dibbs

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Re: Wax my Lancashire?
« Reply #7 on: May 18, 2013, 10:24:57 PM »
...and melts nicely...

I grew up in Lancashire, eating the various kinds of Lancashire cheese, and I can assure you that you will have the best melting cheese in the world.  My Mother used to, and probably still does, melt a plate of crumbled crumbly Lancashire under a hot grill and eat it just like that with some bread.  As a child I thought that was normal but  nowadays it surprises me that she doesn't crack the plate.

Lancashire is, to my mind, the best cheese for cheese on toast.  The Welsh would probably say Caerphilly is best for Welsh rarebit but Lancashire, Caerphilly (and Wensleydale) are pretty similar at the end of the day.

MrsKK

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Re: Wax my Lancashire?
« Reply #8 on: May 25, 2013, 02:29:43 PM »
I like Lancashire because it builds such a nice natural rind in the ripening box that it doesn't need to be waxed.  For me, waxing always ended up in some kind of disaster - mold under the wax, whey oozing out of the cheese and souring it - or it got into creases of the cheese and required a lot of cutting away to get rid of the wax and rind, which to me is a big waste of all the work that goes into cheesemaking - and the milking of the cow to get the cheese.

After removing the Lancashire from the ripening box, I usually allow it to just hang out in the cheese cave until it starts getting mold growth or getting dry.  At that point, I clean off the mold and allow it to dry at air temperature, then cover it with a thin coating of lard.  Then my cheese chore is reduced to turning the wheel once a week.