Waxing Pressed Cheese - Issues

[judyp]

Hello:  I decided to wax my cheese today.  I had 3 2 lb. slabs of cheese.  The first one, Colby, waxed perfectly.  I was thinking this is pretty easy.  The second cheese is Manchego and was made about 6 days ago.  I read hot wax sticks better to cold cheese, so I refrigerated my cheese overnight.  The wax isn't sticking around the edges of the top of one cheese.  On the other cheese (Farmhouse Cheddar) after dipping the cheese, the top of the wax gets tiny little pin holes and it looks like a tiny bit of oil on the top.  What does this mean?  Am I doing okay??  Is this normal?  I will try to upload a picture.  In the picture, it looks shiny on the top edge, but it's the white cheese showing throw.  Thanks for your help!!!
Thanks, Judy

[tnsven]

So sorry you've not had a reply yet, Judy.

I never refrigerate my cheese before waxing, even in the heat of summer (I have no a/c). I do not find it necessary.

It is possible that the Manchego has some condensation from being in the fridge.....a cheese that is too damp doesn't wax well.

Your wax may not be hot enough. I don't recall the exact temp (try searching the forum) but if your wax is too cool, it may not stick so well and/or cause those bubbles.

If it were my cheese, I would put a 2nd coat on (as thin as possible which means hotter wax) paying attention to the uncovered areas. Then let it age. I'm sure you are o.k. Cheese is very forgiving.

Let us know how it goes!

Kristin

[Boofer]

I don't wax so much any more, but when I did I would invariably get small holes where the wax didn't close entirely. I would then dip a clean toothpick into the hot wax and dab it on the hole. After that "fix" set, I redipped the wheel to cover the patch/es.

I would remove my cheese wheel from the cave just after the wax was melted and ready to go. It is essential that the cheese surface be dry when waxing. I did find that the cool cheese would "seize" the cheese well, though I never actually considered waxing cheese that wasn't cool.

-Boofer-

[slfaf]

So, my wife and I just made our first hard cheese!!  I was hoping that instead of waxing we could seal the wheel with our Food Saver.  Does anybody have experience with this?  It seems that it would serve the same purpose as the wax keeping moisture in and bad bugs out.

Thanks for the comments!

[MrsKK]

There are many discussions of vacuum sealing on the forum.  Many of us use this method, but you must first age the cheese for a few weeks or up to a couple of months first.  Otherwise, you can trap too much whey in the cheese and end up with sour or bitter cheese.