Cheese Wax, All-Natural Beeswax

Cheese Wax, All-Natural Beeswax

All natural beeswax can help prevent unwanted mold growth and retain moisture while cheese is aged. Beeswax can add a wonderful complexity to both the aroma and flavor of aged cheese. It's much more brittle than traditional wax though, and can crack when aging cheese. We suggest adding vegetable shortening to beeswax to help make it more pliable. 

Beeswax has been used for thousands of years for its unique chemistry. It has the ability to produce creamy textures in a variety of cosmetic applications. Because of the highly complex composition of beeswax and its soft, pliable nature, beeswax remains an indispensable raw material for many finished products even after centuries of commercial use.

Wax is applied to a hard cheese after pressing and drying for the aging process and is one of the most convenient ways to protect cheese during aging. Waxing cheese can help in easily maintaining the desired moisture level within your cheese. To apply the wax with a brush, check out our boar bristle brush.

A block of beeswax weighs one pound.

Reusing Wax

When your cheese is done aging, and you've removed the wax there's no need to throw the wax away. It can be reused many times. To prepare your used wax for reapplication simply melt it down and strain it through cheese cloth. This will eliminate any particles from your wax. The high temperatures it takes to melt wax will sterilize it too.

Equipment for Waxing

There's no way around it, waxing is a messy business. We suggest using older equipment for waxing and dedicating it solely to waxing thereafter. Ideally you will use the same container to heat, melt, cool, solidify, and store your wax in. This can a heat safe glass container, a coffee can, an older pot with a lid. Using the same container for all of these steps will cut down drastically on clean up, along with preparation for the next time.

If you’re applying wax with a brush, be sure it has natural bristles, otherwise they can melt. To cut down on cleaning time, keep your brush in the same container as your wax and let the wax melt off the brush when you heat things up next time.

Caution on Heating Wax

The safest method is to use indirect heat such as a double boiler or water jacket to melt your wax.

It may take awhile for the wax to go from a solid to liquid state, but once it's liquefied, the temperature will rise quickly. Make it a habit to constantly monitor the temperature of your wax. If wax reaches flash point, the vapors produced will be extremely flammable. The flash point of wax is typically above 300° F. Please don't let your wax exceed 250° F! Never leave wax unattended on the stove.

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Manufacturer Part Number	BEW
Brand	New England Cheesemaking Supply Co.
Origin	USA

We stock this product in our Nebraska warehouse. Most of our shipments are by FedEx Ground or Home Delivery and you should receive your order in five business days or less from ship-out. Click here for more information about shipping.