I was reading in a book that in the old days of Netherlands that waxing semi-hard washed curd cheeses like Gouda was primarily only done for shipping for protection against microbial growth and weight loss due to moisture evaporation and that for aging they used to rub the rinds with unboiled linseed oil, also known as flax seed oil.
From
what I understand edible linseed oil has three special characteristics:
1) It has a strong odor and flavour, OK not good.
2) In liquid form it goes rancid quickly thus better to store in fridge to maximize it's life.
3) It polymerizes or dries into a solid form which would be ideal for sealing cheeses and in which form I assume it doesn't go rancid?
Any thoughts on this for sealing pressed cheeses?