Waxed Monteray Jack - Crack & Liquid Oozing Out

[Margie]

I have made my first hard cheese, it was a monterey jack. It now has aged a little over 60 days and something has happened. The wax is a little loose in one spot and some clear liquid oozed out.
What is this? Is my cheese OK?

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Your cheese is creating gases which builds up under the wax and causing a small amount of whey oozing out from a weak spot. Did you use lipase for this monterey jack.

This happened to me on the cheeses that I used lipase and it was too much (hard to measure this lipase). Also may be cooking the curd stage wasn't enough.

Open the wax, wipe the cheese with vinegar and rewax it. Or instead of wax use lard and old cheese cloths to wrap it.

[Margie]

I did not use Lipase. I will open it up and see what I have. Thanks.

[MrsKK]

when I waxed my cheeses, I had a lot of problems with cracking of the wax, then liquid seeping out and mold devloping under the wax. 

I went to using lard and muslin to bandage my cheeses, which was okay, but graduated to just larding the cheese.  I liked that method, but still ended up discouraged by how much rind had to be cut away.

My hubby got me a vacuum sealer for Mother's Day and I just sealed up my first Colby.

Let us know how your cheese tastes.

[Sailor Con Queso]

On small cheeses (5 pounds or less) there can be a huge waste from the rind. That's why a vaccum sealer is so nice. Little or no rind depending on when you seal. I age most of my cheeses naturally for 2 or 3 weeks before sealing.

[DeejayDebi]

I have to agree with Sailor on this one. You really need that first few weeks of air to allow the cheeses to age properly. I generally vac pac about 2 to 3 weeks  (for soft cheeses like goudas and havartis) and 3 to 4 weeks for harder cheeses (cheddars, parmesan an other hard cheeses).

[cheeselover]

Personally, I would be worried about my cheese if it was oozing liquid. :-\