Author Topic: Leaking waxed cheese  (Read 3404 times)

Chriss

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Leaking waxed cheese
« on: September 17, 2017, 12:16:51 PM »
Hi everyone

Needs some advice. I made 4 waxed rounds 2Red Leicester and 2 cheddar in January of this year to let them age for Christmas. First time making cheese all went well but now 3 of the rounds are leaking liquid.

Will they be ok or should I vac seal them till Christmas

Cheers Chriss

Offline Fritz

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Re: Leaking waxed cheese
« Reply #1 on: September 17, 2017, 01:56:54 PM »
Hi Chriss, welcome to the forum :)

Ya... the good ol' leaking cheese issue... happens to many.. myself included. Short answer: cheese aging with liquid is no bueno... my suggestion would be to carefully remove the wax and let the cheese dry out for a day or two in a maturing box/mat with the lid cracked open a bit. Here is a good opportunity to remove any soft spots or mould that may have entered. Once dried out, you can either rewax or vac pac seal your cheese to continue aging.
You can recycle the wax that came off it by reheating it, of course.

The bad news.... leaking cheese usually means something went wrong during the make. This is where we learn from our mistakes.. its a good thing, but unfortunately, your cheeses may continue to leak and may taste sour and not be edible.
I'm going to guess that 1) you may not have stirred your curds long enough to expel the whey enough. 2) you may have raised the temperature too quickly and whey is trapped in the hardened curds before able to expel it during the cooking phase 3) your pH is off at any stage of the make, and you cheese may be dry and crumbly. (Many reasons why)

You could try to take a core sample and taste your leaky cheese. You may want to make some backup cheeses if you are looking to have that impressive cheese spread for Christmas ... there still is time ... if your leaky cheeses are still good, then great.. no loss ... cheeses age well :)

Good luck
F

Chriss

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Re: Leaking waxed cheese
« Reply #2 on: September 17, 2017, 05:13:20 PM »
Wow great reply thanks I will do as instructed thanks so much you must be a cheese god

Offline Fritz

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Re: Leaking waxed cheese
« Reply #3 on: September 17, 2017, 07:24:48 PM »
Pffft! God... far from it... I'm just a regular guy that likes to make cheese :)

Offline awakephd

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Re: Leaking waxed cheese
« Reply #4 on: September 17, 2017, 10:11:14 PM »
Demigod? :)

I agree with Fritz - but I will add that I've had more than one cheese that has oozed a bit of moisture in its vac-bag, but which, after drying and re-bagging, has gone on to greatness. Or at least very-goodness. :)
-- Andy

Offline botanist

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Re: Leaking waxed cheese
« Reply #5 on: October 27, 2017, 01:16:30 AM »
The year I cheaped out on cheese wax (bought something called cheese wax, but it sure wasn't), I got lots of cracks and oozing.  Learned my lesson--always buy from a trusted source.  In this case, oozing occurred as a result of molds and bacterial growth under the cracks and was not a result of poor make.

I have also had some liquid loss when I cut a cheese that has had a slight case of 'frog mouth'.  So even when the paste was ok through most of the cheese, in the center there was that nasty little gapping and a little clear liquid when the cheese was cut.  No bad flavor, though, so more likely retention of whey during rind closure and pressing, rather than 'late-blowing'.
before goats, store bought milk = chevre & feta, with goats, infinite possibilities, goatie love, lotta work cleaning out the barn!