Waxing the cheese

I couldn't wait, I had to do it tonight!






My first hard cheese, getting waxed. Waxing was actually a lot trickier than I thought it would be. There are two ways you can preserve your hard cheese, EVA (a thin coat of liquid plastic that you paint on the cheese) or waxing.

The wax that came with my kit is in a steel container. You create a double boiler arrangement then dip the cheese into the wax. I found it fiddly; inexplicably there is only one handle on the container. It is hard to remove from the boiler arrangement. The other tricky thing is that the wax bowl is not deep enough for cheeses made with the large mould that comes with the new Mad Millie cheese press.





As you can see, once I'd dipped each side there was still a lot needing cover. I tried dipping using a metal spoon, but the wax come off where the spoon held. I very gingerly held the edges and dipped it; the cheese fell in the wax.  This melted previous layers while I fished it out.  I'm not sure what else to do to make this work better, I'll be checking out you tube clips for some inspiration and techniques to get a nice smooth finish!  The best thing about the wax container is that it comes with a lid, so once it has cooled down you can store it for next time.

My suggestions if using the Mad Millie kits:
1) find a deeper container to hold the wax
2) place a trivet on the bottom saucepan of your double boiler.  This can stop the wax container moving around
3) wipe the cheese with salt water before waxing and air dry well. You don't want any moisture between the cheese and wax
4) Have another person nearby - an extra set of hands can be useful
5) Make sure the wax is fully melted before dipping (stir with a disposable stick).  I was impatient and only the surface had melted on my first couple of tries!
6) Lay down towels or some kind of protection for the stovetop against wax drips!

This all sounds like I was unhappy with the kit.  However, I was so, so pleased with myself.  I've wanted to wax a hard cheese for the longest time, and even though there was wax everywhere once finished I was very, very happy!  If you get the opportunity to make a hard cheese, you should complete the process and wax the cheese!

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