My First Waxing

I waxed my first cheese last night. It is a gouda that I made on Sept 12. It has been sitting in the "cave" since then and has lost 6oz in weight. I used a deep fryer we haven't been using for melting the wax. It is a Euro Pro F1045 which has a timer dial and a temperature control. The temperature control is marked starting at 275F but that mark is at the one o'clock position on the dial. I put 4lbs of wax in it to melt with the dial at about the 9 o'clock position. Once the wax melted completely and the heater light turned off, I checked the temperature and adjusted the dial until the temperature of the wax was a stable 235F. I added wax until it was at the "full" line. I then turned the heat off.

For my first coating I used the deep fryer's basket and dipped the wax for about 6 seconds. It completely submerged in the wax. After taking it out to cool, the bottom of the cheese stuck to the wire basket and some of the wax pulled off. )-: So I hand dipped it, half at a time. Then set it on some aluminum foil to cool. I used a brush to touch up a few of the thinner areas and the drips down the side.

For the second coating, I waited until the wax had cooled to 190F and repeated the hand dipping. The picture above is the end result. What looks like bubbles on the top is actually where the wax was dripping off the cheese when it came out of the pot.


As a friend said. "Hey, it's what's under the wax that counts!!!" We'll see in about three months if what's under the wax is worth all the "work".

If nothing else I had fun and learned a few things. One thing I think I need to pay more attention to the texture of the outside of the cheese and smooth the surface out more. Also the edges around the top and bottom were very sharp and in a couple areas had a lip on it. I probably should round the edges off a little after it comes out of the mold.

BTW I'm planning on another cheese making party on Sat. Oct 16th with a few friends. I'm looking forward to it. (-:

The Cheesy Geek