Cheese is weeping through wax

[newcheeseguy]

Hi all, newbie cheese maker here and I was wondering if it is normal for a little liquid to come through the wax while the cheese ages.

A little background info. I am making a 1 lb wheel of monterey cheese as per Ricki's book and after letting it set out for a few days at room temperature I waxed it. It seemed dry to the touch at that time. I had to play around with a plastic cooler and freeze packs until I could get a small 8 bottle wine cooler to keep it at 55 degrees.

I have had it in the cooler for almost a week with a small damp paper towel changed out every other day or so. Yesterday evening when I pulled the cheese out, there were small drops of milky water which had come out in various spots on the wax. There weren't many maybe 5 or 6.

Is this normal or should I do something else to the cheese. Maybe remove it from the wax, let it redry and then wax it again?

I have seen no mold growth through the wax layer at this time, don't know f that matters or not.

Thanks ahead of time for any advice.

NewCheeseguy

[Cheese Head]

Welcome, no that is not normal and not good, but it is a common problem.

Cause is because cheese is too moist and still expelling whey, not good as behind the wax it is a location for unwanted infections such as yeasts.

Agree, remove wax, air dry further then if want re-wax. If you go to the STANDARD METHODS - Aging Cheese Board then click on column title "Subject" it will sort all the threads in that Board alphabetically then click "Subject" again to sort from Z to A, then scroll down through the wax threads and you'll find discussions on Moisture Appearing Behind Wax and Fluid Leakage.

[newcheeseguy]

Thanks for the heads up on this!