Surface Cracks - Recommendations

[Dgarner23]

So, I am new at cheese making. Just made my second semi hard cheese ~ basically followed a Havarti recipe, but used buttermilk for culture. I soaked it in water, then brine as directed. 2 days later I brushed with brine and put it under a glass bowl. I did have minor cracking prior to putting under glass. I thought washing with Vinegar next time might be good to prevent mold in cracks, then I thought about washing in a mix of red wine and vinegar. Any ideas what this would do?

[Cheese Head]

Welcome, nope, should be fine though. Except my experience with surface cracked cheeses is it is very tough to avoid mold in the cracks. If you search for "Cabre Vino" and you'll get several threads on wine soaked cheese and you can see their tricks and traps.

[dttorun]

I guess it is better to rub with olive oil and vacuum seal in this case to prevent further mold growth in the cracks. Wine may not penetrate as it is brined already.
Tan