I was in my cave the other day and noticed that a 2 month old Colby had cracked, and some mold was forming in the crack.  I quickly took it to the emergency room (my kitchen), removed the wax and trimmed away all the affected cheese.  I was going to rewax it and return it to the cave; but I made the fatal mistake of tasting it.  It was so good, I just had to start eating it right away.

As for the cracking problem, I’ve had that on and off since I started making cheese (78 cheeses ago).  I’m still not sure why it happens, but I think its exascerbated by low humidity, which has occurred from time to time.  Anyway, I have within the last couple months begun dipping my cheeses rather than brushing the wax on.  I get a much thicker coat of wax and the edges seem to seal together much better.  Hopefully this technique will put an end to the cracking problem.

Anybody else have this problem??

Yup I find if its too thin then theirs a cjance of a air bubble and once it cracks then that tiny hole can create a chane reaction.

Rich, all I can say is congrats on actually catching your wax problem
I ended up tossing 3 wheels of cheese this summer due to NOT realizing that I had cracks in my wax.
The mold had gotten so bad that it had entered into the interior of the cheese and I could not bring myself to cut away the bad and try to keep the good. They actually looked rancid to me and I didn’t want to take the chance.
It was totally my fault. One because of a poor waxing job ( I also brushed on my wax) and two because I got lazy about checking and turning my cheeses. I just had so many other things going that I basically forgot about them for a couple of months.
This year I’m going to vacuum bag everything. I’ve tried in on a couple already and love how easy it is. I’ve talked to several cheese makers that have recommended aging for a month before vacuum sealing to allow the starter culture to do it’s thing. After the culture has exhausted itself there is no more need for an air exchange or any type of “breathing” so sealing is fine.
The cheeses I’ve done so far are cheddars so the month of aging was not required. When adding the salt directly to the curd that effectively stops the starter culture in it’s tracks and causes the cheese to immediately go into secondary aging.
I’m really hoping this works out since it seems to be the perfect solution. I haven’t noticed a single spot of mold on the vac’d cheeses and I’m not having to deal with the mess of waxing.

Dave

OK, some thoughts here.  First, it would seem that waxing also seals off the air - thus preventing mold development.  However, the point I’m not too sure on is that the culture is ever “exhausted.”  It has been my understanding (perhaps misguided understanding?) that the continued slow development of the culture at reduced temps during aging which imparts the more pronounced flavor of an aged cheese.  I’m not sure how the salt factors in here as far as killing off the culure; but a good deal of the salt is pressed out along with the excess whey, so the concentration is reduced.  It would appear we need some wisdom from a cheese scholar - Alex, you around??

Rich,
Here is the information I’m referring to. This was posted on the other forum in response to a question about vacuum bagging cheese.
This post was made by Sailor Con Queso whom I believe has also posted on this board in the past.
Anyway, here’s what he said:

“For the first 30 days, the starter bacteria and any naturally occurring lactic bacteria are extremely active and doing their thing. Lots of people wax or bag after air drying a couple of days, and that obviously works. I just prefer to give the bacteria a little “breathing room” for 30 days. After that, the bacteria run out of food, die off, and the enzymes and proteolysis take over. THAT’s when the real aging starts. By then oxygen is not as important to the process.

Ironically, this may be counterintuitive with Cheddars and other curd salted cheeses. When salt is added directly to the curds (instead of brining later) the salt kills off or seriously slows down the starter bacteria, so my whole rationale for waiting 30 days is a bit illogical. BUT I do it that way anyway. “

Sailor is very right about the ageing process description.
Salt inhibits bacteria growth and so it slows acidity development. Salt concentration in most of the cheese should be 1.5- 2/5%. Rich you are right, when pressing salted curds (like cheddar), some of the salt is expelled. In these cases the cheesemaker has to decide from experience how much salt to use.
Waxing - I wax my cheeses by dipping, 3 times each face and then I rotate the wheel between my fingers to coat the side all around. Before waxing, I air dry the cheese, then chill it for a couple of hours in the fridge, take it out and wax.