I just joined the forum, but of all the neat tricks and tips I've seen here is the popularity of vacuum bagging. I've scanned through many posts that refer to it but there's still some things I'm missing. Some questions:
1. Vacuum bag material inherently has very low moisture and gas permeability. Does this affect affinage negatively?
2. I can appreciate the simplicity of vacuum bagging vs. waxing, but other that that and the prevention of surface mold are there other advantages?
3. When is the best time to bag? Is there a rule of thumb that applies to desired aging time (i.e. bag half-way through aging_?
4. Can you pull a cheese out of the bag, cut a chunk to enjoy, and re-bag what's left and put it back in the cave? Kind of a dumb question but was curious if there is any negative effect on the exposed paste over time.
I've got a Foodsaver rechargeable vacuum but I've only used it to vacuum bag my cultures and to store cheeses that I've pulled from the cave.
Thanks. One more post and I get my "cheese" privileges
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