Jarlsberg warm phase

[AnnDee]

I have waxed jalsberg on warm phase but I feel the cheese is soft under the wax. It is not soft like camembert soft but it feels like very bouncy rubber eraser type thing under the wax. Is it normal?
Or maybe there's something wrong with it?
Some part of it has expanded a little (like a semi uneven inflated baloon), has this cheese gone bad?

[Kern]

Not sure why you waxed it during the warm phase.  Earlier in the year I made a Maasdam.  The initial aging went like this:  Two weeks in the cave.  Four weeks at 68F in a lidded box at 90% RH.  It started expanding at around 10 days and was fairly rounded at the end of four weeks.  I had to wipe it down with a salt/vinegar solution to keep the mold under control in the warm box.  Following the warm period it went back in the cave where it contracted somewhat but stabilized after about two weeks.  I didn't wax or cream coat if but if I had done so it would have occurred after it stabilized in the cave.  This was a seven pound (six gallon) cheese and the rind was quite thin when I cut it at 3 months.

I noticed that my cheese felt soft during the latter part of the warm phase.  I attributed this to the gas created by the P. Shermani

[AnnDee]

Hi there Kern, I might have a goner on my hands now 
I waxed the cheese after it was air dried then it was in the 10C cave. 2 days ago I took it out to a warmer 21-23C and for some reason the cheese has become soft and a bit bouncy, when I pushed it with my finger it felt a little bit like a rubber ball. I have put it on top of wooden rack and I noticed the cheese expanded on the part which was not supported (in between the wooden rack). I fixed that now by flipping it and placing it on top of solid wood.

Today it got worst, the wax has burst/cracked.
I made this with Louella Hill's recipe from her book Kitchen Creamery, there was another recipe on 200 easy cheese using more PS, both said that waxing is an option.
I think next time, I will definitely skip the waxing.
What do I do now? Strip the wax? Rewax? Or...?

[ezabel]

I have a Jarlsberg type cheese thats finished it's air drying and has just gone into the cave for 2 weeks before it;s warm phase.  I've been going back through lots of old posts over the last month and whilst I have little experience myself, I do recall a post with this exact same problem.  The cheese is supposed to expand during it's warm phase, so the first thing thats going to give is the wax.  I'd remove that wax coating, then let the cheese do it's thing naturally.  I don't think it's a goner at all.

[ezabel]

Here's one thread.  Not the one i was thinking of, but similar.


http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,11387.msg87878.html#msg87878

[Fritz]

Hey AnnDee, I agree with ezabel.... it's not a biggie to re-wax later ... Give it room to expand and do its thing.

Have fun and the cheese gods will smile upon you

F

[AnnDee]

Thanks for that Ezabel and Fritz,
I was also going back to some threads and saw someone with cracked wax jarlsberg before, so I am more hopeful now. The only other thing is the texture, is this supposed to be bouncy? 
Well I supposed if all doesn't turn out right I can always play some basketball with it 

[AnnDee]

The other thing is, today it has a little oily leakage from it (from the cracked part I suppose). I took a sniff and it smells so niceeeee.

[ezabel]

I'm not sure about the texture having not got to that point myself yet, but in that thread I sent you, High Altitude also said his cheese released oil all the way through.  I guess if it's swelling and leaking, that crack is it's only release point.  Looking forward to watching this cheese eventuate I'll update my pics if it does anything interesting, but other than getting a little more golden/yellow, it's still looking like it did 4 days ago

[AnnDee]

An update on this one. Finally cut it last week, nutty, buttery dan slightly sweet. Melts really well.

[Fritz]

That looks totally awesome Ann!
So glad you didn't give up on this one... look at what you made out of moo juice! lol
Those eyes are smooth and shiny ... not blown ... perfect!

A cheese for this one for sure

[Andrew Marshallsay]

Beautiful!
A cheese from me too.
I will be very happy if my first Jarlsberg turns out that well.

[AnnDee]

Thank you for the cheeses Fritz and Andrew

I am making a new batch, taking more care of the aging temp this time as I want bigger holes

[valley ranch]

Just read through this thread, fun, exciting even. Glad to read the update. The cheese looks good, bet it's a pleasure to taste.

[AnnDee]

Hi Richard,
I find cheesemaking to be fun and exciting
The taste is pretty good, we are eating it like our lives depend on it.