Waxing vs Vacuum - effect on aging?

[MacGruff]

Many people here have vouched for using a vacuum bag system instead of waxing various kinds of cheese. My question is what should be done if you vacuum seal in terms of aging?

Is it still a good idea to keep it in a temp range of 50-55 degrees and a humidity level of 80% or higher? Maybe once you vacuum seal, you should just put the cheese in the regular fridge?

I have also seen some recommendations from people who told me to first age the cheese in a 'cave' for a few weeks to a few months, and only then vacuum seal it. Again, the question remains: Once vacuum sealed, does it need to be in a carefully controlled environment?

Any help appreciated! Thanks!

[Gürkan Yeniçeri]

Is it still a good idea to keep it in a temp range of 50-55 degrees and a humidity level of 80% or higher? Maybe once you vacuum seal, you should just put the cheese in the regular fridge?

Yes keep them in your cheese fridge.

I have also seen some recommendations from people who told me to first age the cheese in a 'cave' for a few weeks to a few months, and only then vacuum seal it. Again, the question remains: Once vacuum sealed, does it need to be in a carefully controlled environment?

You can cut them in wedges and vacuum pack. I would still keep it in the cheese fridge if I am not going to consume them immediately.

How is the humidity in your cave? Why are you vacuum packing them?

[Sailor Con Queso]

MacGruff,

Once you vac bag, humidity is not an issue, but temperature is still very important. Unless you plan on aging for years, you cannot age cheese in your regular refrigerator.

I personally go natural rind for a month and then vac bag.

[zenith1]

Macgruff_ I totally agree with Sailor and follow a similar workflow. That is I age with a natural rind for a month or longer and then vacuum bag when I want to age long term without the worry of having the wheel dry out too much. Like Sailor has already mentioned, the humidity will then not be a concern, but the temperature that you age at will still need to be closely regulated as it will ultimately determine how long you will need to age your wheels.

[MacGruff]

I have a vacuum sealer. I also have a dorm-stye fridge that I found I can keep at between 50-56 degrees F. I have managed to find ways to keep the humidity consistently in the 85%+ Rh.

Glancing at my hydrometer just now, the readings are 50.0 temp and 91% humidity.

I was asking because I have had a terrible time keeping blue and black mold off my cheeses. Another problem I have is that I travel for business about 30-35% of the time and am away from the house for a week at a time. When I come back, the cheese wheels are compeltely festooned with mold. I wipe it off with vinegar and salt, but some still remains settled in dips in the cheese and so I know it will be back within a day or two. Since I cannot consistently keep it clear, I was hoping to vacuum seal it and be able to forget it.

For now, I have three cheeses in the cave. Each in a vacuum pack. But I wonder if I packaged them up too quickly. I have a Havarti that I made two months ago; a Gouda from about 5 weeks ago, and a Colby that's two weeks old.

[Tobiasrer]

Why do you like the natural rind? is this not kind of a waste, as some of the rind would not be eaten? wouldnt vac packing not save that and alot of the hassel of maintaing humidity and checking? I am asking as I have no experiance now so... wanna see what the pro's do ;-)

[anutcanfly]

I tried out cheese cream as an alternative to wax and vacuum packing and so far its been working well.  It peels off, so I don't lose the rind and it does breath, as the marker I used went right thru and stained the cheese.  I'll use a grease pencils from now on.  I've been using one layer and so far that's been enough.  I know more as time passes. 

[Sailor Con Queso]

ANut- The cheese cream breathes a little too well. Watch your humidity or the cheese will dry out and get hard.

[anutcanfly]

Thanks for the heads up Sailor.  I was hoping that would be the case!  I keep my cave humid as I don't use cheese cream until the cheese is 2 to 3 weeks old.  It's weird, but now that my cave is almost full, I have trouble keeping the humidity down to 85%.  I don't have any water in the cave and all surfaces are dry.  These days I have to leave the door open for a while each day to bring the humidity down.  Any idea's why that is???

[Sailor Con Queso]

Cheeses constantly give off some moisture, especially in the early stages of aging. The more you have, the higher the humidity.

[anutcanfly]

That's what has me stymied, except for 2 cheese cream treated cheeses, the rest of the cheeses in there are vacuum packed!  I keep the natural rinds cheeses in containers in an unheated room of the house during the winter months.

[MacGruff]

anutcanfly - I experienced the exact same thing.

When I had one cheese in the cave, I was struggling to get the humidity over 80%. As soon as I put the second cheese in, the humidity zoomed to 90%+.

AND all my cheeses are vacuum sealed right now!!!     ???

Anyway, I have three cheeses in there at this moment and my Hygrometer is reading 92%.

[anutcanfly]

Yep.  Last winter I had to keep a pan of water in my cave to keep it at 85%  Well it's nice to not to be the only one perplexed.

[leabrit]

I watched a Utube where they made swiss cheese and they vacuum sealed it straight away? What I like is I can see if it is developing any problems unlike when you wax

[Caseus]

You can see through natural color wax, especially if you just use a couple of thin coats. 

I have a vacuum bagger, but I haven't attempted that method yet.  I will eventually, but right now I'm just waxing because that's how I started.  I've only made four cheeses, so no great amount of experience here yet.   :)

What I'd like to know is how that cream works, what it's made of, whether it has mold-inhibiting additives (e.g., Natamycin), and where I can get it.  So long as its not something I'd want to put in my mouth, I might be interested in trying it.