On Sun, 06 Apr 2014 13:21:57 -0700, sf > wrote:

>On Sun, 06 Apr 2014 12:07:46 -0600, Janet Bostwick
> wrote:
>
>> I haven't seen clothbound cheddar in 20 years or more. It was every
>> where in Wisconsin when I was growing up. I still run across
>> clothbound Swiss? or something like Swiss occasionally.
>
>Is "clothbound" the one where the waxy coating is over something that
>comes up looking like lattice or maybe a loose burlap weave? Looks
>like they are still made, but the image didn't enlighten me at all.
>http://www.esquire.com/blogs/food-fo...cheddar-050410

My impression was that it is cheesecloth and then dipped in was. There
used to be a little cheese factory along side the road in rural
Wisconsin. We would always stop there for cheese and heavy cream.
Some of the cheddar came in this humongous wheel that the lady behind
the counter attacked with the most enormous knife I have ever seen.
When she had cut your piece, she would dip the cheddar in a vat of hot
wax. Some of the cheddar came in smaller wheels that were wrapped in
cloth and waxed. I think I remember that the color of the wax denoted
age. The dipped cheese did not readily dry out. The wax easily
pulled from the cheese. I don't know if the waxed/cloth cheeses get
turned (handled) more often during aging or not.
Janet US