The way of ripening of a cheese is essential to the taste development. Natural ripening results in the typical taste of hard and semi hard cheese (like Gouda and Edam). In order to develop this taste and the typical rind and consistency cheese coating is used to protect cheese.
The coatings are based on a special grade water based polyvinylacetate copolymer dispersions which are free from plastisizers. The semi permeable coating protects the cheese from mould growth and excessive weight loss. The product is coated immediately after the brine bath and depending on the type of cheese and storage conditions several coatings are applied during the ripening process.
On an industrial scale cheeses are coated with specialised machines (produced by both Elten and Doeschot) which mechanically transfer the coating on the cheese with felt cloth. On a smaller scale cheeses are hand coated with a sponge. Spray coating is never successfully implemented on a large industrial scale.
