Hi - I am a newb. I attempted my first cheddar, and some things didn't go quite right. When I was at the drying phase, I had a lot of weeping and while my mind finally has dried, there are a lot of cracks where the curds sort of relaxed and moved apart.
I think it's still edible, but I'm not sure if I should wax and atempt to age or just eat it as some sort of fresh cheese.
It would be hard to wax it the find isn't sealed well. But you could vacuum pack it. Do you have a seal-a-meal or Foodsaver kinda thing?
Vac pac or you can rub it with coconut oil. I had seen somewhere on the site about the smell of the coconut oil but I have found it dissipates after a month and I can't smell it at all.
I would not wax if it is still weeping whey. In any case, I would not wax until at least 3 weeks after the make.
The fact that a cheddar weeps at all is a bit surprising, It suggests that the curds have retained too much moisture. There may be some step in the make,such as in the cutting, cooking or cheddaring, that needs tweaking or it may require more weight or time in the press.
The cracks may indicate a pressing problem. On the other hand, if you have a network of fine surface cracks, that can be caused by low humidity in your aging space, leading to the rind drying too quickly.