impulse sealer question

[Tomer1]

Would/has anyone sealed a romano or parmesan in a vacuum bag during its ageing time? That is, seal it for its entire ageing period (a year or so) I have a 2 month old romano that I am thinking of sealing in a vacuum bag as i want the space it is using with a ripening container. I know you're not supposed to seal it but I know some people wax them. I have to use these ripening containers for everything because of lack of humidity in my cave. I am worried the romano will not age properly and be like an aged cheddar at the end if I seal it up.

Well,a main part of the grana type is low moisture content ,some which results during aging.
If you seal it it wont be as dry yet it will still taste good.

[Sailor Con Queso]

I seal mine all the time. The moisture content in the cheese is a result of the way you make it, not from bagging.

[Tomer1]

Sure but with 12-24 months of aging you lose quiet a bit of moisture in 80-85% RH.
If I open a 3 weeks old parm it wont be as brittle as an older aged cheese wouldnt you agree?

[silverjam]

But Sailor... what is the final product like after you seal it from the start? And how long do you age it sealed?

[Sailor Con Queso]

I age everything naturally for 3-4 weeks then vac bag. Then you can age as long as you want. I am very pleased with my results.

[rattman]

Hey Sailor,

Two questions.

I purchased cheese wax intending to wax my hard cheeses. (I'm just gtg started with this hobby.)

Had a Cheshire not knit together well so I took some advice and vacuum sealed it.
Worked really well. First question.... why would anyone wax when vacuum sealing is so easy? Is wax more efficient in some way?
My intention is to do only hard cheeses for the most part.

Second question.... I have been fighting like crazy to keep my new 52 bottle wine cooler humidity above 80%. Decided to try putting freshly pressed cheeses in tupperware with a bowl of saltwater to keep humidity more constant around the cheese. We will se how that goes.
So for the vacuum sealed cheeses that are aging and not in the tupperware..... does the humidity in the fridge really matter at all??
I mean... the air is not getting inside the vacuum seal, so why would it matter? I would think that temp is the only concern.

Your thoughts??

Hey.... happy hoildays to everyone by the way!!

John

[zenith1]

Rattman- you are correct, there is no reason to wax when you can vacuum seal EXCEPT tradition. The humidity problem is always an issue with that type of wine cooler-just the nature of the beast. For natural rind wheels of course it is a big part of the aging process, you are correct though,once sealed it doesn't really matter at all.

[rattman]

Thanks Zenith! And I just realized that there was a whole other section about aging cheese in the technique section. But I didn't really come across any threads that discussed a preference either way.

I understand from one of Linuxboy's posts that amonia might build up and create a funky smell when vacuum packed.... but he also said that it would dicipate fairly quickly....so no big deal
He also said that the final product would be/taste different from natural/wax/vacuum..... but he never really indicated what he did and what his preference was. And I understand that the high temp italians would more likely be aged with a natural rind.... not sure why though.

So for those of you old cheeses out there..... do you generally use wax or vacuum for hard cheeses.... and why??
I have both at my disposal.

[DeejayDebi]

I seal all of my cheeses and I have some asiagos, parms, provelones and romanos that are over 6 years old. Sealing does not harm them - in fact I have found it to be a great way to age cheeses.