Author: admin

I’m making a hard cheese. I have noticed white mould forming underneath the wax, is this normal?

Wax needs to be applied to a completely dry cheese, if it isn’t, then gaps between the wax and the cheese will allow mould to grow. This is not desirable, the cheese should be stripped of the wax, mould removed and the wax reapplied to the cheese once it is totally dry.

I recently pressed my first cheddar and got a rough surface due to the cheesecloth sticking slightly. Is there a good way to prevent this and achieve a smooth surface?

Cheesecloth should not stick to the surface of the cheese during pressing. It will do so if the cheese dries out too much during the time in press, and there is no way of recovering from the damage. So make sure the cheese stays moist whilst it is in press, using 5% salted water, at […]

I would like to try bandaging the cheese for storage. How long should I leave it before carrying out the bandaging?

Bandaging the cheese can be done as soon as the cheese is removed from the press, the bandage being applied with butter, lard, or flour/water paste. If the cheese is small, then bandaging may not be the best option, the cheese can dry out too far and become extremely hard and dry, during the maturation […]

I currently have it in a spare fridge which is running at 10deg C at a humidity of 70 … is this ok to store the hard cheese?

10C is fine, but 70% humidity is too low, 80-85% is better.

My Camembert cheese broke in half during dry salting, can it be rescued?  From Caroline

There is no way of holding together a Camembert which has broken, the mould coat needs total exposure to air to grow, and bandaging, or using a rubber band (both used in rescuing Stilton) will limit the growth of the mould coat. The cheese is edible as a fresh cheese, so eat it now.