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I made havarti that has been sitting for almost 1 month now, turned everyday and wiped with brine or brine and vinegar every other day. This is becoming a bit tedious now, is there any other way to deal with this rind situation? Can I wax or vacuum pack? I prefer vacuum packing as wax left marks everywhere.

Hi Ann
I have bagged all of my cheese, blues, cheddars, Caerphilly, you get the point.
never had a problem. a lot of people like the natural rind, I'm just lazy
I just watch for whey in the bag then I open it and clean the bag wipe down and air the cheese and reseal.
By the way welcome to the forum

I like to use cheese coating/cream wax for my pressed cheeses that I age. Here is the one I have used with success and not overly expensive http://www.ebay.com/itm/White-Cheese-Coating-For-Cheese-Making-2-lb-/111470095185?hash=item19f422ab51:g:al4AAMXQCgpR0FoX. Just brush on the cheese after pressing and drying and let it dry. You can put as many coats as you like. May not totally eliminate mold during a long aging, but makes life a lot easier.


Susan

Hi HKJ, thanks for the welcome.
I think I will vacuum pack it today after a little airing. Thanks

Thank you Susan, I actually haven't heard of the cream and this is new to me but I am very curious! I will order some for my next cheese. Thanks again!

Ann, I'd agree with Susan and H-K-J : cream-coat, vacuum-seal, or both.

I've done all three in addition to waxing (in my early years ) and crafting natural rinds.

I like all of them except for waxing. In all of these rind preservation methods, the cheese should be dry and not weeping.

-Boofer-

Ok, so I am not the only one who don't like wax. My cave is full of red marks mess thanks to the red wax.
I will definitely get the cream coating. Hopefully the shipping will not take forever (usually takes 2-3 weeks when I am lucky). What do you think of stripping wax off cheese (I have farmstead and Gouda waxed) and vacuum seal it? Will it ruin the rind and/or the cheese?

I see nothing wrong with stripping red wax followed by vacuum bagging.  I'd probably let the cheese "air out" for a day after stripping and before bagging.  Be sure to monitor the vacuum bag for mold, weeping, etc.  Upon seeing problems, remove the bag, clear up the problem, air out and rebag.

My favorite thing to do with rinds is just take a brush and brush 'em every few days when you see mold. You'll get a pretty natural rind, with none of the worries of waxing or sealing.

Quote from: Stinky on January 24, 2016, 04:33:43 PM
My favorite thing to do with rinds is just take a brush and brush 'em every few days when you see mold. You'll get a pretty natural rind, with none of the worries of waxing or sealing.

I wish it were that easy!  I get mold all over the things I don't want mold on and then can't get it when I want to.  Check this out.  If I could figure out why this cheese is not getting moldy I could bottle it and get rich selling it!    My current strategy is to wash the rind with a glucose/weak fertilizer solution and keep it open to the garage air with a draining mat cover.  In four days I grew the yucky looking mold in the glass dish with this brew but nothing grows on the rind.   

I stripped the wax off my gouda and farmstead, there was mould patch on both but nothing serious, I wiped it with brine and air it. The farmstead has develope rather nice sturdy rind. I plan to vacuum bag all my cheese today.

Stinky, will you have to brush everyday? I find the wiping with brine every day or every other day is really tedious.
But yes I like the looks of natural rind especially when it is covered with some funky (non poisonous) molds.

From bare to bagged up.

Quote from: Kern on January 24, 2016, 07:46:26 PMMy current strategy is to wash the rind with a glucose/weak fertilizer solution and keep it open to the garage air with a draining mat cover.

Huh?  Are we talking Scott's lawn care line? 

-Boofer-

Actually just a water extract of an 18-18-18 inorganic fertilizer.  The solution provides a bit of Nitrogen, Phosphorus, and Potassium (NPK) that assists in mold growth with glucose present from the invert sugar.

No, you don't have to brush every day. It's good to check regularly, especially at the beginning. Let more or less grow based on what kind of rind you want, you'd get away with every two days or so. But it's way easier than wiping. Just pull out, brushy brushy, stick back in, ignore until tomorrow. After 2-3 weeks mold will slow down as the rind gets established, and you don't have to take as much care.