Cheddar's - Surface Sealing Options Discussion

[yeri]

Hi again guys,

thanks for your nice respond on my previous question, but i have many more question..  lol.....
when i read chedar recipe, there is a step to wax the cheese before aging it for a few month, does this step is a must?

can i just age the cheese with out any wax? and if yes i can do it without wax then what will be the different between if i use wax and if i'm not using wax? thanks before guys, i can not wait to make my first cheese, i will make cheese next month at my Xmas holiday.i hope there is no problem with the process.

[zenith1]

Hi Yeri- I hope that your are having some fun with your cheesemaking. Yes there are other methods that you can use instead of waxing. It is just a way to help preserve and protect the cheese and to some extent control the moisture level in your final product. Alternately with a cheddar you could bandage, or vacuum bag the cheese wheel. If you do not use one of these methods you will wind up with a lot of rind on your wheel and probably a much too dry cheddar. Before you move to any of these methods you must make sure that the rind is dry to the touch or you wind up with the possibility of mold development.

[yeri]

hi keith, thanks for your nice answer, i think i can use vacuum bag here, but i wonder why is chedar need to be wax or perhaps to be vacuum, because if we wax it or vacuum it then the bacteria have no air to breath....

[KosherBaker]

Hi Jeri.

There is quite a bit of discussion about all of these issues and more in the forum archives, if you decide to read through them. I have been reading and enjoying them for a while now, and needless to say have been learning quite a bit.

From what I remember of the discussions you vacuum seal/wax cheese once it has formed at least somewhat of a rind and is no longer weeping whey. The exact timing depends on many different factors and recipes. And you are correct vacuum sealing cuts off the supply of oxygen to the bacteria, however, as you'll see reading the archives, explained by linuxboy. The reaction(s) that take place from that point on in the cheese are anaerobic so they no longer require oxygen. There may however, be some ammonia build up, that will need to be aired out once you open the vacuum sealed cheese. Waxing is messier but allows more air flow. This is just a brief summary of the two techniques.

[yeri]

Hi Rudy, i following this forum Chedar recipe, we need to stay the cheese at room temperature for 3 - 5 day then we wax it. is this mean 3 - 5 day is enough to dry it and to let a rind formed?
i found many chedar recipe at the internet, and i think i will follow this forum recipe. is there any suggest before i follow this recipe..?

[zenith1]

Yeri-the 3-5 days are a guideline only. It will depend on the temperature and humidity in the area that the cheese is being dried. use your own judgement in finding the correct amount of time in your work areas. it could take 2 days, it could take longer.

[KosherBaker]

Hi Yeri.

Sorry I can't help you with the Cheddar question as I have not yet attempted that cheese myself. It is a quite advanced cheese style that introduces many challenging failure points into the process. I must have a fairly hefty cheese press available and decent, heavy weight mould to press my cheese in, not to mention the cheddaring process itself. So I'm going to put off making Cheddar for a little while, until I'm comfortable making somewhat simpler recipes that don't have so many possibilities for error.
It looks like Keith has gotten you started on the answer to your question, and if you'd like to see more discussion on making Cheddar: Here's the link

[OlJarhead]

I'm a newby so please forgive me but I'm surprised by all the 'vacuum sealing'.  Oh sure the stores do it and I'm sure it's ok at a point but, well, here is Jim's response from cheesemaking.com

Let the surface dry so no free moisture is visible then wax .
NEVER Vac Pac.

Of course wrapping is also an option.  I just bought some Fiscalini today to try out some 32 month old award winning cheese   It was of course amazing and still very much a cheddar, but the point is that they wrap rather then wax.

Something to ponder I guess.

[yeri]

Wrap the cheese? Do you mean wrap using a plastic wraper?

[MrsKK]

Homemade cheeses that are wrapped in plastic wrap are subject to going moldy very quickly, as there is no escape for the moisture and there is enough air to allow the growth of mold.

While vacuum sealing traps the moisture, it excludes air, so no mold growth.  If the cheese gets wet from expelled whey, the bag can be opened and drained and the cheese can be re-sealed.

Many people - include me - successfully vacuum seal their cheeses.  You do want to have a good, dry surface on the cheese, aging for a few weeks, before vacuum sealing.

[OlJarhead]

Wrapping might be confused with 'bandaging' -- as in wrapping in muslin or other cheese clothe type wrap.