Why do they put wax around cheese?

“Seems kinda dumb to me.”

“1) to keep it from drying out.
2) so kids can chew on it and use it to color their teeth”

“They don't, you big dummy. They put cheese inside of wax.”

“To keep air from the cheese.
Air causes rot and fungi.

Waxed cheese lasts a lot longer.

Until recently sailors prepared eggs for long voyages by varnishing them to keep the air out.”

“Recently?

Do you wax the cheese before cutting it or vice versa?”

“Come on Nimble, you're an old tar.

What do ya say about that?

Oh, what do ya do with a drunken sailor!?”

“Yeah, MarkO, I read it last night and wondered what "recently" means. 'tis not a pretty image to visualize a bunch of sailrs sitting around varnishing their eggs...”

“Aaaarrrrrggggggg!!!!

Blow me(down) Olive!!”

“UM...don't want to be to "authoritative here" but...if your CHEESE is getting a waxy covering...you really need to reconsider your personal hygiene.”

“Listen to Fire Marshal Bill, y'all.”

“Hit too close to home huh?”

“I bet you can make bio diesel from cheese wax

:)”

“I think you need to e-mail JimmySan SC. He waxes all of his own cheese. Or at least that's what he said...”

“not all cheese is waxed. some cheese is aged and forms a rind that serves the same function as wax.

cheese that is waxed is done to keep air from touch it's surface. this is so it won't dry out and also to keep undesirable mold from growing on it's surface. most cheese will form some mold on it's surface when it is first aged (prior to being waxed). this is just wiped/brushed off. then the cheese is waxed. you can age cheese like this for a long time.

the wax i put on my cheese gets recycled. i clean it, re-melt it, strain it through cheesecloth, and use it on the next batch of cheese.”

“Hell, and all this time I thought the wax was on there to keep the cheese from getting dirty if you dropped it in the dirt before you cut it open.”

“that too”

“so...jim....you going to the deam next weekend? :)”

“And ,I thought for years, it was like an apple all the food value was in the peeling.”

“hell, no peace even on a "why do they put cheese in wax" thread!”