Wayne's Parm112709

[susanky]

Wayne,
That is an amazing cheese!  To decrease the rind, can one vacuum seal a Parmesan to age it, or does it need to get air for gas exchange?  How soon did you start oiling?  If you start earlier does that help, or are there reasons to wait (4-6 weeks as I recall from a recipe?)?
Susan

[Sailor Con Queso]

Wayne - Nice looking cheese.

Susan, That's why I vac bag. To me 1/2" to 3/4" of rind is an unacceptable loss on relatively small wheels. I rub down with olive oil as soon as my wheels are dry, go natural rind for around 4 weeks, then vac bag. Most of my rinds are edible.

[susanky]

Thanks Sailor,
My first ever Parmesan is in the cheese cave.  It is only 11 days old.  I have been faithfully turning.  Because the humidity is not high enough I have it covered to increase humidity in it's immediate enviornment.  I noticed a little hairline crack at an edge.  I covered the crack with olive oil (was that ok?).  But mostly it is doing fine.  Maybe I'll oil it now.  Is it too early?  Then vacuum seal in about 3 weeks.  It is 4" wide by about 6"tall.  Are there some (hard) cheeses that simply should not be vacuum sealed?
Susan

[Sailor Con Queso]

I would give it a light rubbing of olive oil now, before the rind starts to crack. Then bag in 3 or 4 weeks.

[wharris]

While I rubbed my parms with mineral oil every 2 months or so.  the thick rind is due to low-humidity?

Hmm.  I need to create a way to vacuum bag these cheeses.

[DeejayDebi]

Very nice looking parm Wayne!

[jawdog]

Beautiful Parm, Wayne.

Don't waste that rind!  It will make a great soup stock.  Or, add it to a pot roast.
I like to use rind when making venison & cheese salami.

Nothing has to go to waste!

John