Monterey Jack #1 - Waxing

I decided to wax the first Monterey Jack as most recipe's I read called for waxing and once done, the cheese can be left alone to do its thing. The first week I'm going to turn daily, then less often over the next few months.

Why Wax?

Waxing is a way of preventing the cheese from dehydrating too much while it ages. It also protects the cheese from moulds and other insects that want to get their teeth into it! I normally go for a natural rind as it looks aesthetically pleasing, with waxing you don't lose the outer skin of the cheese so the advantage here is I get a little more cheese but it doesn't look as pretty.

1. Heat up the paraffin wax slowly in an old pan. You have to make sure the whole thing has melted, this small pan took 15 minutes on a low heat

• Holding the cheese steady with you hands, dip and turn it slowly in the hot wax around once and let it cool.

• Once cooled, hold the cheese from the side you just waxed and dip the bottom in the wax making sure its completely covers the surface of the cheese

• Once cooled, repeat dunking the top
  

• At this point if there are any rough bits of wax from drips, try to either shave them off with a knife or if its still warm, smooth them off.

• Repeat this procedure 3 times until there is a well protected and even layer of wax all over the cheese. To save money the wax can be washed, remelted and reused for your next batch
  

• The final cheese ready for the cave