It’s easy to find videos and information on how to walk you through waxing cheese so that you can keep cheese in your house without taking space up in your fridge. This is particularly useful when you want to take advantage of sale prices at your local grocery store. Or maybe you’re adventuresome enough to make cheese at home.
What is harder to find is a heads up of what you’re looking for when after you’ve waxed your cheese.
This is what I want to share with you today.
In all the YouTube videos and blog posts you’re told to walk out for cracks in the wax or mold on the outside. But what does that look like? And that’s not even taking into consideration that in reality there’s a couple of other things that you should look for that you should be aware of as well. So let’s take a look at what can go wrong.
The first indication that you need to check your cheese…
About two months ago I noticed an earthy musty smell in my pantry that came out of nowhere.
If you’re use to preserving food, you know that when there’s a change in your pantry smell than something is up.
If you’re new to food preserving, it might not cross your mind that you need to check something. I want to plant that red flag in your mind right now. If a new smell comes up in your pantry, check all your food and see where it’s coming from.
Note: I first noticed this smell in my pantry about two months ago. Instead of removing the wax and checking the viability of re-waxing all the cheese you are about to see, I let it all go. I took this to the extreme so that you can have a very good visual of what you can find and see with certainty of what is going on with the cheese when you remove the wax.
You find dampness that seems to have come from nowhere.
Honestly I kind of laughed when I saw this one. Out of all the research I did before waxing my own cheese, no one talked about wet cheese. So I never would have known to look for this one.
The problem with this issue is that if you’re just looking for cracks and discoloration of the wax, you’re not going to catch this problem. The only way you’ll find this problem is by handling your waxed cheese when it’s time to flip them.
I felt something tacky. It was kind of like sugar water; something is a little sticky but you don’t know what or why. I didn’t know what was causing this tacky feeling on my wax until I picked it up and where my fingers pinched into the wax (to pick it up). Instead of a firm wax feel, there was a bit of mush and a couple of drops of liquid came dripped out. I didn’t see any cracks, but the liquid was coming out of somewhere.
When I opened this cheese up, there was quite a volume of water that came out. And the picture doesn’t really do justice for this one. I tried to capture the amount of water that came out, but about half the water went under the cutting board.
This problem is not salvageable because there was a breach in the wax, meaning that bacteria had access to cheese with an obviously wet environment. While the scent wasn’t too off, it was different than when this cheese was made. But it was the fact alone that the environment inside the wax was perfect for breeding food borne illness that this cheese had to be thrown away.
What caused the water to form inside the wax?
The number one reason, especially for this amount of liquid, is the fact that this was Queso Blanco, a semi solid cheese.
Depending on who you listen to, some people say that only hard cheeses are qualified for waxing. Then there are some people who saw that semi hard cheeses are able to be waxed.
Know that the amount of water content in the cheese that you wax is going to be inside this environment. If your wax is compromised, that water content becomes a problem.
The wax blows up like a balloon and looks like a pillow.
This is another example of a problem that does not involve a crack or discoloration of the wax. The giveaway that something is wrong is that you see the wax bulging.
When the wax is opened, you once again see that the cheese is wet, an indication of a breach in the wax. The water inside is minor in comparison to the glaring indication that something is wrong. You can see here that the cheese itself became bloated.
What causes this bloating?
A microorganism got in and started eating on the cheese. Its respiration causes the carbon dioxide to become trapped in the wax, causing the bulge in the wax. When the cheese also bulges, you know this compromise has gone on for quite some time.
Again, this problem is not salvageable. The cheese needs to be tossed in the garbage.
The wax has become discolored.
I was interested in seeing what was going on inside this problem. Everyone you talk to will tell you that the discoloration is caused by mold. But there’s cheese mold and then there’s mold. Cheese mold (white–like the store cheese that’s on sale because it’s old cheese) can be cut off, cleaned off with vinegar and reprocessed.
This is not “cheese mold” this is toxic mold. Immediately toss it.
Now there are some people who will try to say that the mold is isolated in one location and try to rationalize that you can cut and reprocess. Please don’t. There is moisture on the cheese. The wax created a biome for this mold to grow in. And the evidence is that the off smell of the cheese was not localized but also on the opposite side of the block.
Something looks like white mold on the outside of the wax.
This one I had hoped to find the mold that I was told you could cut off and reprocess the cheese.
Surprise!
Instead I found a noticeable off smell, discoloration of the surface of the cheese, and slime. This one is caused by a yeast infiltration.
If you know yeast, you know that even if you cut it off, it’s coming back. This also gets tossed in the garbage.
What happens if you ignore the crack in your wax?
Let’s just say that I’m glad that I saved this one to be the last I was going to examine. And I didn’t even open the one with the gaping crack. I chose the small hairline crack.
I could not finish removing the wax. The rotten scent was overpowering. Obviously this was a toss for me.
Here’s the thing. I know for a FACT that the cause of this problem was that these two blocks of cheese fell from my pantry and hit the floor. When I picked them up from impact I looked and it appeared that the wax was undamaged.
Never assume there was no damage.
If you want to save the cheese from this problem than when you pick the cheese up from a fall, just immediately remove the wax, clean the cheese with vinegar, air dry it and put on a fresh wax casing. This problem is totally avoidable.
Maybe the cheese falls with a family member and they put it back without letting you know. If you ever see a crack, immediately open it and see what’s going on. Make an educated decision on what to do.
What can we do to prevent these issues?
First toss out everything that you hear from the people who are sharing their cheese making experiences. If you want to learn how to preserve cheese, to be shelf stable, then turn to cheese mongers who make a living off of preserving cheese.
Look at the waxed cheese that you can purchase at the cheese shops.
Pay attention to how thick the wax is.
I am going to tell you right now, the cheese that you see in my pictures here are double dipped layers. I put on two layers of wax because the non-professionals said that it was enough. If you put the last picture (cracked wax) next to a professionally waxed cheese, you will notice that what I applied is a fraction of what the professionals apply to their commercial cheese.
If you want to prevent bacteria, yeast, mold and other microorganisms from infesting your waxed cheese, you need to make sure that you create a thick enough barrier to protect your food. Thick barriers are going to offer better protection than a thin barrier. Do not be cheap. Use the amount of wax a professional is going to use.
Another condition that you have in your control is the area in which you keep your waxed cheese. The experts say that cheese wants to be stored between 40-50 °F. If there is no location in your home that meets this temperature criterion, the best place is in the crisper of your fridge (which is warmer than the main compartment–too cold for cheese) and where you can control humidity. You want high humidity (about 85%), which may require a open container of water in the crisper drawer with the cheese.
Do you need a jumping off point for what experts say in how to store cheese? Look for articles written by cheese makers who have been in business for generations. Another great place is the American Cheese Society. The best yet is anything put out by a Certified Cheese Fromagier–someone who has gone through the training and accreditation for knowing it all in the cheese world.
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