waed cheese

Tengu

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Jan 10, 2006
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Got some babybels yesterday.

I like them; I always had a mental picture of an Edam, a cheese i find too mild.

but these have flavour.

A quick question; If I coated a cheese in wx, would it store well?

Anyone tried this?
 
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Gagnrad

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Jul 2, 2010
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A quick question; If I coated a cheese in wx, would it store well?

Do you want to buy a whole cheese?

But if you did, it would be OK as it was (so long as you stored it at the right temperature, etc., and used it within a reasonable length of time). It's when they're cut that the problems start.

Anyone tried this?

No. I leave that to the cheesemaker, only buying as much as I need and using it pretty quick. I generally eat a couple of ounces a day, sticking to unpasteurized, well-aged cheeses, like Manchego (Spanish sheep's milk cheese from La Mancha), Swiss Gruyere, cheddar, or maybe something from a small maker. I just buy every few days. Pasteurizing doesn't do the milk any good and since cheese is acid that would kill harmful bacteria if present. Craft-made stuff that comes from grass-fed beasts is higher in vitamins and omega 3 fatty acids (grain-fed cows give milk too high in omega 6)—and it tastes better, too. Goats' and sheeps' dairy is a bit more digestible than cows'. But goat cheese is often soft, which means under-fermented, which means more lactose left, which can make it less digestible for some people. It also means more bland in taste.

But I think the thing is cheese can be aged for a long time, but the maker does that and when it goes out it's ready to be eaten. (Kind of like most wine.) Besides, once it's cut it's best used fairly quickly. I don't think dripping wax on it at that stage would be a good strategy. More a case, I think, of find a reliable source for buying from and buying and using on a shortish cycle. Wrap part-used bits in paper or food-safe plastic. There's controversy about how much cheese does, or doesn't, need to "breathe". There's a product over in U.S., formaticum, that's double layered, plastic and paper; that's supposed to be good, but I haven't used it. I probably eat my cheese too fast to need it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Formaticum-Cheese-Adhesive-Package-14-Inch/dp/B003WBLYVI
 

santaman2000

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Jan 15, 2011
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...Goats' and sheeps' dairy is a bit more digestible than cows'. But goat cheese is often soft, which means under-fermented, which means more lactose left, which can make it less digestible for some people. It also means more bland in taste...

Cain't say much about sheep's dairy; never tried it or really even read much about it. Goat's milk and cheese is another story though. Goat's milk may or may not have more lactic acid but in any case said lactic acid binds differently than in cow's milk and is actually MORE digestable. That's why doctors and dieticians usually recommend it for patients who are lactose intolerant; or at least they used to before the synthetics such as soy milk or Lactaid became available. In fact my 1st cousin's pediatrician placed her on goat's milk for that very reason when we were kids (no pun intended) It does have an affect on the body though; body odor and urine odor often get much stronger when it's drank regularly. Unfortunately I generally don't like the taste of goat's milk either. I've read that it tastes good when absolutely fresh but as I don't own a goat my only experience is what's available at the grocery store.

Goat's cheese can be mild or can be quite assertive, in a different way than cow's cheese. More soured like buffalo cheeses than tangy the way cow's cheeses are.
 
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santaman2000

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As far as storing cheese for any length of time it might be worth remembering that's exactly what hard. aged cheeses were developed for. In the 1700's and 1800's (before refrigeration) many of the world's navies issued monthly rations to the crew members who were expected to self ration their daily diet from that. Among those rations were hard cheese; it would develop a mold on the surface after a time but the practice was to simply carve away the mold and slice an edible serving from the good cheeses underneath.
 
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santaman2000

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Yeah, the aged (hard) ones are the ones that are waxed. The only finicky ones are the fresh (soft) ones.
 

Gagnrad

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Jul 2, 2010
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Goat's milk may or may not have more lactic acid but in any case said lactic acid binds differently than in cow's milk and is actually MORE digestable. That's why doctors and dieticians usually recommend it for patients who are lactose intolerant; or at least they used to

What are you trying to say? It's the fermentation process that converts lactose (C12H22O11) to lactic acid. Hard goat's cheese would be great; it's merely that what one most often finds for sale in the UK is chevre—or something made over here in a similar style. It's not aged long enough to deal with the lactose (or to taste particularly interesting). If someone really can't digest lactose then they'd better not eat anything with lactose in, including chevre and the like.
 

santaman2000

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Jan 15, 2011
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What I'm saying is that goat's MILK is more digestable and has long been recognized as such by most health professionals. Need specific examples? Look to the one I mentioned about my cousin (that was common until the synthetic lactose free milks became available) Look to my step daughter today who was advised by her dietician to switch to goat's cheese for that reason (her lactose intolerance is compounded by her Crohns disease and Celiac condition) Look to the East. In Asia and Africa the peoples (adults at any rate) are generally genetically more lactose intolerant than peoples of European descent and apart from the Masai cannot easily drink cow's milk. Yet they have little or no problem with goat's milk; which incidentally is the most common milk source in the world. It appears that domestic cats, caucasians and the Masai are somewhat unique among mammals; almost all other mammals become lactose intolerant as they grow past adolecanse. (spelling?)

All dietary guidance here speaks of lactic acid as a product of lacose breaking down in the digestive process. That's why the way it (lactose) binds differently in goat's milk is beneficial; it doesn't break down into lactic acid as easily. I cain't quote the exact chemical processes involved; TBH I don't really care that much about the chemistry. I just follow the advice of the doctors and dieticians and try to understand the explanations they give for laymen like myself. If, as you say, it is also a part of the fermentation process (and that seems quite logical and reasonable) then yes that's probably why there are so few aged goat's cheeses.

We don't get any hard goat cheeses over here either but they (the goat's cheeses we do get) usually taste much, much stronger in their own way than cow's cheeses; for whatever reason. Feta comes to mind (although granted that one is closer to an aged cheese than the others) I don't especially LIKE goat's cheese either and would not normally eat it as a stand alone item. But I would happily substitute it in recipes; omelets, macaroni & cheese, etc.
 
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Tengu

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Thanks everyone. Im saving my babybel waxes.

You may buy cheese wax on Ebay but its expensive.
 

Toddy

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From someone who is lactose intolerant.....goat's milk is just as bad as cow :sigh: and so is goat's milk butter. The goat butter tastes fine though, just like the ordinary cow's stuff, but the cheese is a bit hit or miss. Haloumi isn't strong like the other goat's milks ones. Neither is good feta though.

Tengu, basically good hard or plasticised cheeses take being waxed, iirc it has to be something less than 40% water. Cheddar is very good indeed, but some Caerphilly and Lancashire or Cheshire need care. Leicester's fine.
I've been trying to find a recipe for homemade cheese wax....the originals must have been high in beeswax and I know you can get that quite easily. It's probably a mix of wax and a safe to eat oil.

cheers,
M
 

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