First swiss

[curiouser_alice]

Going to start my first swiss tomorrow.  The recipe I have calls for waxing, and I have wax.  The brush I was planning on using is silicone.  I was thinking it wouldn't be a problem, but does anybody have experience using a silicone brush?

[Al Lewis]

I always dip when I wax.  Tried brushing once, not a good result.  BTW  Make sure that cheese is done "gassing" before you wax it.

[curiouser_alice]

Well, we shall see.  I have two pots, side by side, and one has a clean break and the other does not.  I'm combining them into one cheese, so I added a tiny bit more rennet to pot #2 and am waiting.

[curiouser_alice]

more or less success; I got the two pots kind of matching and then mixed everything together before putting it in the mold.  Pressing overnight.

[cbenner33]

If it were me I would simply dip the cheese. I think you would get a more consistent coverage and less messy.

[curiouser_alice]

Will try to dip.  I think I can fit it into a double boiler top to melt, and if I plan accurately, will be able to dip.

[curiouser_alice]

My recipe calls for aging at 50 degrees for the first while.  I'm thinking this won't make any difference to the other cheeses I have in there - an alpine style tomme and a gruyere - and the lower temperature is important to the swiss.
Do others adjust this way? I have only one cheese fridge for aging.

[curiouser_alice]

I had a small wax split, which I waxed over this morning.  Is this a weak spot, and when I increase the temperature and it starts to swell, will it break again?
How do people address this?

[Andrew Marshallsay]

I have not waxed a cheese of this type but I suspect that the wax will split once you start the warm phase, especially if it was splitting before that.
Another problem that I have encountered is with whey oozing from the cheese and collecting under the wax. For this reason I leave my cheeses until they are 3-4 weeks old before I wax.
You might want to consider removing the wax and re-waxing after the warm phase.

[H-K-J]

In my limited experience with Swiss style cheese I'm not sure yet am thinking, if you are about to start a warming faze and this has already been waxed, you will most certainly have cracks in your wax as the warming is more than likely going to make it swell.

[curiouser_alice]

Thanks!  I will certainly consider removing and re-waxing.  We'll see how it goes.

[Al Lewis]

Your cheese should expand like a ball during the warming phase.  You should have taken my original advice.

Make sure that cheese is done "gassing" before you wax it.]

[curiouser_alice]

Agreed, but I waxed because I'm trying to get a moister cheese...I can remove the wax and do over after the warm phase. 

[curiouser_alice]

Well, I made it through the warming phase and my cheese did NOT swell.  Should I wait awhile longer to see if it does, or just say it's done and put it back in at a lower temp?
It looks good, but the wax did crack.  If I take it out of the warm location, I will re-wax.  Just not sure I've gotten any holes.