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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => STANDARD METHODS - Aging Cheese => Topic started by: Papaclaude on January 20, 2013, 07:44:15 PM

Title: Waxed Pressed Cheese - Mold Under Wax
Post by: Papaclaude on January 20, 2013, 07:44:15 PM
About a month ago, I made a cheddar using whole milk. It is waxed. At the time, we did not have cheese wax, so we used the 1/2 Parowax, 1/2 vegetable oil recipe. Now the cheese seems to be getting moldy (looks like a green mold is developing). Will my cheese spoil? What should I do? we were thinking of removing the wax, cleaning the mold off with salt water and re-waxing with real cheese wax. Suggestions?
Title: Re: Waxed Pressed Cheese - Mold Under Wax
Post by: Schnecken Slayer on January 20, 2013, 07:56:50 PM
I would remove the wax and clean it up with a vinegar and salt mixture.
Reading other articles here it seems that, if you are going to re-wax it, you wipe it all over with vinegar and dry it off to kill any other spores that may be there.

I don't know what parowax is but I would recommend getting some proper cheese wax.
Title: Re: Waxed Pressed Cheese - Mold Under Wax
Post by: sofusryge on January 20, 2013, 07:59:06 PM
Yep, that's what i would do. Make sure the cheese is dry to touch, and make sure the cheesewax is properly heated (100-110 celcius should do the trick). The hot wax will kill any left over mold spores on the surface of the cheese.
Title: Re: Waxed Pressed Cheese - Mold Under Wax
Post by: Papaclaude on January 21, 2013, 03:03:58 AM
I would remove the wax and clean it up with a vinegar and salt mixture.
Reading other articles here it seems that, if you are going to re-wax it, you wipe it all over with vinegar and dry it off to kill any other spores that may be there.

I don't know what parowax is but I would recommend getting some proper cheese wax.

Parowax is just a paraffin wax used for canning jams and jellies and for crafts. A cheesemaking book we have (or a website, can't remember which) had a recipe which called for a 50/50 mix of parowax and vegetable oil. We now have real cheese wax.