Parmesan - Brining Time For Small Wheels (& Waxing Discussion)

[Jessica_H]

I'm wondering...how long do most people brine their parmesan?

I'm confused because I"m following the recipe that came with my "Basic Cheese Making kit" from cheesemaking.com and it says to brine 4-6 hours.  However, I just got the book that the same company puts out "Home Cheese Making" and the recipe is IDENTICAL except that the recipe in my new book says to brine for 24 hours.  Such a big difference in time!!!

If it matters, I did 1 gallon of cows milk and half a gallon of goats milk.  I DID skim all the cream off the cows milk (and think I did a great job) but didn't skim the goats milk at all.

[linuxboy]

What size wheel? More like a cylinder or more like a disk? How much surface area?

[Jessica_H]

It's a disk...about 4 inches across and 2 inches thick?

I think I read somewhere that the general rule of thumb was 1 hour per inch of thickness?  But then I didn't understand why my book said to brine for 24 hours.  Unless it was a typo and really should have read 2-4 hours? 

I ended up brining it for 6 hours...I hope that wasn't too much...

[linuxboy]

Slightly too much. Optimal time was ~2.5 hours for that parm because of the flat wheel. Your parm will be somewhat salty and will take a while (12 months+) to mature assuming saturated brine.

No clue why the book said to brine for 24 hrs.

[Jessica_H]

Slightly too much. Optimal time was ~2.5 hours for that parm because of the flat wheel.

Phewey 

Oh well, I'd like to make another Parm because I had so much fun playing with the cream and making butter!  The book also said I should wax it after 2 months.  Does waxing a cheese affect how long they take to mature?

I now have a "cave" that's at a steady 85% humidity and 51 degrees with very little fluxuation.  I'm not sure if most of my recipes are telling me to wax the cheese because it assumes I DON'T have a cave?  Or if waxing really is a common thing with most hard cheeses.

[linuxboy]

Waxing is to prevent the molds from growing and to maintain the moisture to prevent excess moisture loss. Doesn't affect maturation time, but flavor will differ unless you use a wax type that is semi-permeable and lets gas through.

Waxing is for ease, to prevent the need to maintain the rind, and to eliminate the need to manage humidity.