Waxing Cheese

Wax Dipped Cheese for Long-Term Storage
- Use Mild Cheese -

To dip cheese in wax, follow these steps:
1. Divide 5 lb. loaf of cheese into portions your family will eat in ONE day. (Abt. 6 sections)
Make sections no bigger than 16 oz. each. Keep edges as smooth as possible. Bumps, cracks or rough edges create air space which is conducive to mold. Use good knife.
2. Place cheese sections on cookie tray and freeze for 1 hour.
3. To melt cheese wax, you will be using the double-boiler method. Place water in tall stock pot, filling a little over half way. Wash empty #10 can. Remove label and place can in pot of boiling water. Pot must be narrow enough that floating can won’t tip over inside.
4. Put chunk of cheese wax in #10 can and let melt completely. Must attend melting wax.
5. Take cheese sections from freezer and arrange the sections in uniform pattern on the cookie sheet. This will help you remember where you are in the dipping process. Use tongs or gloves to avoid added bacteria to cheese surface and wax sticking to fingers.
6. Take the section of cheese and dip it into the cheese wax. It will cover approximately half of the section. Don’t leave cheese in hot wax too long as it could melt it. Hold cheese above can up to 90 seconds to drip dry. Take that section and FLIP it so the wax side is on top. Take the next section and do the same first dip.
7. After all the first dips are done, grab the section by the waxed part and dip the opposite side of the cheese section. Make sure you FLIP that section up each time. Continue this process until all sections are dipped again. The first layer is most important. It seals the cheese inside and keeps air out. Make sure there are no air bubbles. If you have bubbles, just pop them and re-dip or brush wax on with a non-synthetic brush. (Synthetic will melt.)
8. Do the previous steps again TWO more times. Several thin coats are better than 1 or 2 thick coats. Last coat can be dipped side to side rather than end to end to ensure coverage.
9. Once the sections are dipped THREE times, store sections in square bucket with lid in cool, dry place for 8 - 10 years! You may wish to vacuum seal waxed sections in bags.

Tips:
*Waxing cheese is an old skill. Cheese makers had to use various methods for storage since refrigeration wasn’t available. Even today, cheese is not refrigerated in many other countries.
*One pound wax covers 5 pounds cheese. Only use hard cheese. Less moisture is better.
*Only use cheese wax, not paraffin. Wax color doesn’t matter but it’s usually red. Cheese wax is made especially for coating cheeses. It prevents unwanted mold growth while retaining moisture in aging cheese. The wax is pliable and will not become brittle as paraffin wax does. It dries faster. It can be purchased at health food stores or on the internet.
*Supposedly mice cannot smell through the 3 layers of wax, but store in a bucket or glass gallon wide mouth bottles for safe keeping.
*Stored cheese can be affected by gravity. Rearrange cheese occasionally to redistribute weight and keep wax from cracking.
*The wax can be reused. Store the wax can to accumulate pieces as cheese is used. Keep wax can sanitary with a snap lid.