Wax - Mold Underneath, Causes & Solutions

[lynns]

hi - i am new to cheesemaking.  i have been making farmhouse cheddar, pressed, air dried, waxed, and aging in my root cellar.  yesterday i cut into 1 month old farmhouse cheddar.  good smell and taste, just starting to obtain the cheddar taste.  i removed all the wax to slice it and found mold on the inside of the wax and the cheese.  please help - what went wrong?  thanks.

[zenith1]

Hi Lynns- it is very difficult to not wind up with some pinholes in your wax. Pinhole=route for contamination. When you wax your wheels do you apply more than 1 coat?If I where going that route I would use two coats in the minimum. I would say that is the route of your problem. Waxing can be done successfully with care. You can cut off the offending area/wipe your wheel down with  brine or white vinegar, air dry at RT and re-wax to continue aging if you wish.

[lynns]

thanks keith.  i guess i need to check all the wheels just to make sure.  i brushed 2 coats of wax to each.  maybe i should dip several times in lieu of brushing? 

[zenith1]

sometimes works better, but really is a matter of personal choice. When I waxed in the past I dipped the wheel in the wax-usually two coats.

[JeffHamm]

Hi lynns,

I use a yellow/orange wax, which is relatively transparent.  If mould starts to form under the wax, I can see it.  This allows me to perform "key hole surgery", and cut a small hole in the wax, scrape the mould off, and rewax to seal the hole.  Often, if a small hole forms in the first layer even your second coat will seem to flow around the hole.  So, after the wax hardens a bit, scan the surface looking for holes.  If you see one, blob some wax in and make sure you plug it.  I've come to expect that I'll miss a few, and just keyhole until the mould stops showing up underneath.  I don't mind doing it.  I have a vac sealer, but still use wax as well.

- Jeff

[linuxboy]

Two ideas:

- Use wax with some natamycin in it to help with mold control if you want
- Dip. Brushing is not so effective because you never really achieve a solid coat. If you dip with 2 coats or so, that usually does the job.

[Hande]

And if you dip it in hot wax that kill rind "visitors".
When you brush, wax is maybe not hot enough when it goes to cheese.

Hande

[lynns]

thanks to everyone who responded - great info and very helpful.  lynns

[Boofer]

Hi lynns and welcome to the forum.

In your profile your location is "usa". That's a pretty broad location.
Any chance you'd care to narrow it down a bit? Just curious where you hail from. 

-Boofer-