Waxing cheese and how to age it

[ketoriverfarm]

Not sure if this us the correct place to post.  I would like to wax medium cheddar cheese and age it to make sharp cheese.  Has anyone done this?  Where/what temperature do you age the cheese?  Do you have a book or website to recommend?  Susan

[Deleted]

Check out this article.
I use a wine cooler as my cheese cave, it has 2 doors that way I can put blue cheese in the top and it won't contaminate the other cheeses.
www.culturesforhealth.com/storing-aging-homemade-cheese

[shin]

Does anyone here bandage cheese as well?

[Awnry Abe]

Apr 28, 2015 2:52:35 GMT shin said:

Does anyone here bandage cheese as well?

I've just started bandaging cheese. I do have better luck with outside mold this way, but the cheese is a bit more dry. But I haven't paid a lick of attention to humidity, and I know it needs to be up there.

55 degrees is optimal. I use a small $200 wine fridge. I think wine fridges exist not because an ordinary fridge can't operate at 55, but rather wine is sensitive to motor vibration. I plan on doing more homework to find out if a normal fridge can work as a cheese cave.

[Deleted]

Awnry Abe where do you buy your bandages? Tell us a little bit more about it.

Here is an article on how to use a fridge as a cheese cave

cheesemakinghelp.blogspot.com/2012/11/how-to-make-cheese-cave.html

[shin]

That's an impressive fridge conversion!

[Awnry Abe]

I am trying to remember where I got the cloth. I think it is just butter muslin of a certain ilk. I use lard for the seal.

I learned the technique from a young lady that posts videos about various homesteading topics. I can't remember the name of her site. When you find one with a little lady toddler, who is not causing nearly enough chaos for my liking, in every video you will have found the right site. Great cheese making tutorials.

[Deleted]

To wax the cheese you need to have cheese wax on hand. It's softer and more plaible than wax you can buy in the grocery store. When applying the wax, use one of those disposable paint type brushes with the golden-pale bristles and you have to heat the wax up VERY hot before you apply it. Having it hot enough kills the bacteria onn the cheese exterior, preventing mold to grow under the wax. Apply several layers of wax to the cheese, letting the wax cool and harden in between applications of each new layer. Be sure to completely cover the cheese exterior, with no bubbles or even the tinest hole that will allow bacteria to get under it and you should be able to age it without any problems. One of the most important things about aging is the temperature and humidity of your aging place or "cvave" I used two electric coolers with a thermostat and regulater to keep one at 42 degrees and the other at 52 degrees, as various cheeses generally require these 2 average tempuratures to ripen properly. My parmesans needed the 42 degree temp and I ripened them for 9 months in it. One drawback of using your kitchen fridge is that frost-free models remove/reduce the humidity to lower than you want for cheese aging, and they are set too low (the high 30's or lower 40's) to allow the cheese to age right. Don't vacuum seal any cheese before it's done ripening, as sealing it doesn't allow the gases/oxygen to excape and interact as needed.

[Deleted]

I heat up my wax and then dip 1/2 of the cheese, let it harden and then do the other side, repeat art least three more times. And before the last dip I "paint" on a label with a brush.

You can also can cheese and it ages it.

If you don't have cooler to put your cheese in you can put it in a basement or root cellar. I like shelves that aren't solid so the air can circulate around your cheese.

Iowalez, nice post