Can I wax or bag a Raclette

[Hambone]

Appreciate some advice on making a Raclette if I may ask,

I am wanting to give this recipe a try https://www.cheesemaking.com/raclette.html but my most recent attempts at a natural rind (on other cheeses) have failed so far, though waxed cheeses have been fine.  I live in a tropical climate and can only put it down to a pervasive and aggressive strain of wild mold which seems to take hold every time.

So once I have brined and dried, would this cheese age satisfactorily if waxed or does it need to breathe to achieve the desired flavour and texture, albeit without the traditional rind ?

[GortKlaatu]

Hambone,
Developing the washed rind, and its subsequent changes to the cheese paste, are necessary to end up with a raclette.  If you vac it, you will probably end up with a fine cheese, but it will not have the texture and taste of a raclette.


P.S. Tropical climate?  Where?  I deal with adjustments I have to make due to living in Costa Rica.

[Hambone]

Hambone,
Developing the washed rind, and its subsequent changes to the cheese paste, are necessary to end up with a raclette.  If you vac it, you will probably end up with a fine cheese, but it will not have the texture and taste of a raclette.


P.S. Tropical climate?  Where?  I deal with adjustments I have to make due to living in Costa Rica.

Hi Gort,
I'm in Singapore.... 27 deg C and 95% humidity 24 x 7.
Love to hear any tips!
Thanks

[River Bottom Farm]

That kind of humidity is problematic for b linens. Try this method for stabilizing humidity it will likely help the linens out compete the mold: http://blog.cheesemaking.com/controlling-humidity-in-your-cheese-cave/
Also linens like it saltier that mold does so up the salt content in your wash.

[Gregore]

Most blues can handle a lot of salt .... but they do not like too much moisture so washing more will keep the blues away.

[feather]

I made some raclette and it was suppose to age (with washes) for 8 weeks. By the 5th week, the red/orange mold was great but the cheese inside, just under the rind was starting to get liquidy. So then, early, I vac packed it. It's very good.

[TailPipe]

I had pretty much the same situation as feather. I had a 5-6 week old 'raclette' that was getting a fairly soft rind and it bulging and collapsing in places. It was losing some structural integrity and also started to crack. I vac packed it and left it for another 3 weeks or so. At that point we cracked it open and cut it in half (it was made from 12 L of milk). We re-vac packed half and used the other half. The cheese was fine. It was not as evenly aged as i would have liked but it tasted good and melted well. My mistake was spraying too much b. linens on it during the washing phase. I did this because no b linens took from the inoculation during the making and had a problem with runaway molds on the cheese at the 2 week mark. I think i should have had a bit more patience with the b linens/brine wash and just did it once or twice instead of for a couple weeks. The rind was super strong and soft (also should have let it dry out a bit more i think).

Anyway the second half is in the 4F fridge and is ready for use at any time. The vac worked fine, but i do think it halted the aging process and b linens isn't really doing its thing anymore.

[feather]

I recall the other molds starting to grow on the surface of the raclette. I would swipe them off with a brine (w/o b. linens). The b. linens was in the cheese. Then there were areas, especially on the sides with orange splotches of b. linens. I would take a clean paper towel and wipe those areas, then the rest of the cheese with that same paper towel, basically spreading the b. linens around. That all happened at about 2 weeks. I had to trust (have faith) that the red/orange splotches (that were at first beige) were actually the b. linens I was looking for, the smoosh  them around on the surface, and they took over.