Hi y’all, I"m new but have been trying to find someone, anyone to answer my question with cheese waxing. I went online and found a site that said that I can age and store 5 lb brick of cheese, after cutting it down into more usable portions with a sterile knife, and waxing it. So, that’s what I did. No where did anyone say to air dry or brine it first. All was said, was that I needed to spray or wipe the cheese with vinegar to make sure no mold would form and use a double boiler for the wax. I waxed 35lbs of cheese in cheese wax and hung it all up in a cooler room. When I was in that room, sometime later, I noticed some liquid seeping and dripping from the cheese. Some of the portions were swollen, so I opened one, expecting maybe to see mold. There was NO mold, only air and some of this liquid.
Now, I don’t know A) what I did wrong,
                  B) how to prevent it from doing it again, and
                  C) can I fix or repair the cheese already used? Can I remelt it and rewax it? Do I have to throw
                      it all out?

Running liquid is usually from a cheese that has not been dried out properly, so if its store bought and u didnt Brine it or add any liquid then that sounds very strange, unless its not totally sealed and its absorbing moisture (or just poor cheese).
I would unwrap it , give it a rub down with fine salt, then let it dry so that u can see no moisture on the skin, then dip the whole thing in wax 2-3 times.

Like Neal, I’m curious about the liquid (whey) that’s appearing.  That is highly unusual in a commercial cheese.  You said it was on “some of the portions,” so my guess is that there were holes or cracks in the wax on those portions.  Vacuum sealing would be another option, and you would not have to be concerned about holes.

thanks for your replies. No, I saw no holes or cracks in the wax, in fact, I made sure to dip the cheese enough times that I couldn’t see the cheddar-yellow beneath the red wax. Yes, it was commercially made mild cheddar cheese that I wanted to age. I did not air dry it…the recipe I used did not tell me to do that. The liquid is thick, oily and sticky. Is there such a thing as cheese oil???? I took the 5lb brick and with a sterile knife, cut it into about 5-1lb portions. I sprayed a little vinegar on it, to make sure no mold would grow, then wiped it off with a clean paper towel. Then, using a sterile long-tined fork, I dipped the cheese into double boilered melted wax, letting it cool and dry inbetween dips. Once it was dipped all over, including the holes where the fork tines has pierced. Then I put it down to cool and dry before putting those portions into cheese cloth to hang.  About six months ago, I went back to where they were hanging and found small drops of this oil, and noticed how many of my cheese portions, were puffed up. As I said, I opened one up- and there was no mold. I have no problem removing them from the wax, rubbing them with salt, as suggested, then rewaxing them. Other than that, I just don’t know what else to try.
ps. I vac seal everything else, I guess I should have done the cheese this way, too. I need to know what I did wrong anyway, as I don’t want to throw it all away and if I do this again, I want to avoid having this problem again. Thanks so much for your help, sharon

Cheddar does give off oil, maybe the cheese was in a warm place and it “sweated”. The other question would be who made the cheese, a big corporate company or small farms type company. Im thinking the quality may not be that good (if its always kept at a cool temp). Dont thing u did anything wrong.
U said it was in a “Brick” form, and not a wheel? That would suggest mass produced cheese like Kraft.

yes, it was probably a cheaper brick of mild cheddar cheese. It was not a wheel. Once cut, wax dipped and put in cheese cloth, I did put the several portions in the back room where there is no heat, and hung it in the closet….but maybe, like you said, it was still too warm or maybe too warm in this season. I find it hard to believe that it was too warm in there over the winter, tho. We had high twenties outside, this winter and without heat, I never even went into that room.
I won’t wax anymore. I’ll just vac seal it. I didn’t want to keep the 5 lbs in one unit..I wanted to have much smaller portions that was getting aged as I needed it but not needing refrigeration.  One person can’t eat that much at one time. Thanks to all of you for your imput. I couldn’t get anyone else out there on the net to reply…maybe they didn’t know what was going on. So much information but so much is half true. You guys are the real deal. thanks again.

Neil - 17 July 2012 01:43 PM

Cheddar does give off oil, maybe the cheese was in a warm place and it “sweated”. The other question would be who made the cheese, a big corporate company or small farms type company. Im thinking the quality may not be that good (if its always kept at a cool temp). Dont thing u did anything wrong.
U said it was in a “Brick” form, and not a wheel? That would suggest mass produced cheese like Kraft.

Neil, if it has “sweated” can it be saved? I hate the thought of throwing 35lbs of cheese away. Some suggest that I unwax it and rub fine salt on it, then rewax it. What do you think? sharon

it should not affect the taste, its only the mold that u have to watch for. if its the “cheap” cheese I would not bother waxing it and instead vacuum pack it. Cheap wines have screw caps and good wines use cork.

thank you soooo much for all your help. God bless…