Common sense tells me no. I know you can add wax over the lid of canned products and that lid sure wont breathe.Sooo....just what is the story,does it breathe? Im reading the cheese itself has 02 inside it for a while anyhow so that the cheese will finish aging some.What these guys seem to do is age the cheese to maturity,THEN wax or vacuum pack after its done its aging exposed to air (various wraps,oils,etc).
Then I saw this here....Reply #12
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?topic=1970.0
This begs the question. Does cheese breathe thru wax to provide oxygen to the cheese? Or more importantly, can gases escape thru the wax. Propionic bacteria (used in Swiss) for example release CO2. However, all bacteria release at least small amounts of gaseous waste products from the breakdown of sugars and organic compounds.
There is no smell to a properly applied waxed cheese so I believe that the wax (or vaccum bagging) makes an air tight barrier that does not breathe.
A lard impregnated bandage is probably no different. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It will definitely inhibit unwanted mold growth. Does it choke off the desireable bacteria? No. The bacteria quickly run out of food in a closed environment anyway. That's why coliforms or bad bacteria can't get a foothold. The good bacteria quickly eat everything up and there's nothing left for bad bacteria to survive on. They are unable to multiply.
After just a few weeks, there is absolutely nothing left for bacteria to feed on. They don't die right away, but they do quit multiplying. That's why state laws require raw milk cheese to be aged for at least 60 days. During the aging process proteolysis takes over with the hydrolytic breakdown of proteins into simpler, soluble substances such as peptides and amino acids, as occurs during digestion. The bacteria themself breakdown and become part of the flavor of our cheeses.
Then I saw this here....Reply #12
http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php?topic=1970.0
This begs the question. Does cheese breathe thru wax to provide oxygen to the cheese? Or more importantly, can gases escape thru the wax. Propionic bacteria (used in Swiss) for example release CO2. However, all bacteria release at least small amounts of gaseous waste products from the breakdown of sugars and organic compounds.
There is no smell to a properly applied waxed cheese so I believe that the wax (or vaccum bagging) makes an air tight barrier that does not breathe.
A lard impregnated bandage is probably no different. This is not necessarily a bad thing. It will definitely inhibit unwanted mold growth. Does it choke off the desireable bacteria? No. The bacteria quickly run out of food in a closed environment anyway. That's why coliforms or bad bacteria can't get a foothold. The good bacteria quickly eat everything up and there's nothing left for bad bacteria to survive on. They are unable to multiply.
After just a few weeks, there is absolutely nothing left for bacteria to feed on. They don't die right away, but they do quit multiplying. That's why state laws require raw milk cheese to be aged for at least 60 days. During the aging process proteolysis takes over with the hydrolytic breakdown of proteins into simpler, soluble substances such as peptides and amino acids, as occurs during digestion. The bacteria themself breakdown and become part of the flavor of our cheeses.
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