Wiki: Semi-Sealing Rind Development

Gouda With Natural Rind & Natural Protective Geotrichum candidum Mold Development - CheeseForum.org

This wiki article discusses semi-sealing traditional natural rind development of pressed cheeses during aging. These encompass a range of rind development methods commonly used by cheese makers of old and still very common. This article does not cover high sealing and often more modern cheese protection systems such as:

  • Wax Coating (common on Gouda and Edam cheeses for protection during shipping).
  • Sealed Vacuum Plastic (common on many cheeses).
  • Cheesecloth wrapping and larding (common on some cheddars).
  • Milk based edible casein based bag or cloth wrapping cheese as common with large Gouda wheels. This is the same material used for modern labels on large cheeses.

Rind’s Function

Gouda With  Natural Rind & Natural Protective Geotrichum candidum Mold Development - CheeseForum.org
Gouda With Natural Rind & Natural Protective Geotrichum candidum Mold Development - CheeseForum.org

Rinds of cheeses are started to be formed during the pressing stage of making cheese, they are a critical component of cheese during aging as it protects the interior of the cheese to allow it to ripen harmoniously by acting as a barrier to unwanted micro-organisms and to dehydration. Its presence thus affects the final flavor of the cheese.

Salting plays an important role in natural rind formation. Heavily surface salted cheeses develop a thick, tough outer rind, typified by the Swiss range of cheeses. Cheddar, another natural rind cheese, is less salted than the Swiss varieties, and consequently has a much thinner rind.

Different natural rind developments are discussed below:

Clean Natural Rind

To create a truly hygienically clean natural rind with no induced microorganisms is very hard to do due to high chance of airborne wild contaminants and thus this method is almost never done.

Brine & Salt Rubbed Rind

Cheeses can be intermittantly once per week washed with saturated brine and then rubbed with coarse salt to build a hard thick neutral pH natural rind. It is important to keep the humidity of the aging environment down after rubbing the salt on as the resultant moisture on the rind as the salt is absorbed as brine can cause areas of unwanted yeast infection. Cheese makers often oil their cheeses after several weeks of brining and salting.

Oiled Rind

Gouda At 25 Days, Natural Rind With Natural Protective Geotrichum candidum Mold Development (Finger mark on left) - CheeseForum.org
Gouda At 25 Days, Natural Rind With Natural Protective Geotrichum candidum Mold Development (Finger mark on left) - CheeseForum.org

Oiling rinds with food grade oil is very common and discussed in the Wiki: Oiling Rinds article.

Benign Microorganism Rinds – Added During Pressing/Brining Phase

A protective rind is preferred from ????bugs.

Benign Microorganism Rinds – Added After Pressing/Brining Phase

Many cheeses have their natural rind coated with a permeable barrier to control unwanted microorganisms during aging. Examples are washing the rind with a fluid with live microorganisms such as beer, cider, wine.

Wiki: Hoops & Molds

Home Made 4 in, 103 mm Drilled PVC Hoop, Wooden Follower With Cheesecloth Wrap, & Improvised Weights - CheeseForum.org

Small (Saint Marcellin etc) Cylindrical Gravity Draining Baskets, 350w x 325d inch, 90w x 82d mm - CheeseForum.org
Small (Saint Marcellin etc) Cylindrical Gravity Draining Baskets, 350w x 325d inch, 90w x 82d mm - CheeseForum.org
This Wiki Article discusses various hoops and molds used in cheese making. Hoops and molds have several uses in cheese making, depending on cheese type. They can be used to drain whey in, either by gravity or by additionally applying weight, to form the cheese’s initial shape, to hold the curds while knitting in pressed cheeses, and to hold a cheese’s shape during aging also called ripening. This article is divided into the following sections:

Description

Generally hoops have open tops and bottoms and molds are basket shaped. Hoops are often cyclindrical shaped but can be square or rectangular, they often have followers, (circles, squares, or rectangles) placed on top of the curds upon which weight can be applied to lightly or heavily press the curds into their preferred shape. Normally hoops are placed on some sort of drainage material through which the whey can drain from the bottom of the cheese. Molds are similar to hoops except they have bottoms. Molds are historically used for gravity draining whey from cheese but with the advent of strong modern food grade materials they are now also often commonly used for pressing cheeses in. Because of modern materials, hoops are generally less popular as strong baskets can now be made with bottoms that will not shear out when being used for pressed cheeses. However hoops are still used for cheeses that are turned during gravity whey drainage such as Brie & Camembert.
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Medium (Ricotta etc) Tapered Gravity Draining Baskets, 450w x 325d inch, 114w x 83d mm - CheeseForum.org
Medium (Ricotta etc) Tapered Gravity Draining Baskets, 450w x 325d inch, 114w x 83d mm - CheeseForum.org

Whey Drainage

The primary use of hoops and molds is to drain whey from the curds. To do this they need the correct shape and number of round holes or slots to drain the right amount of whey in the right amount of time for the type of cheese being made. Additionally, hoops and molds for pressed cheeses are often lined with a light thin cheesecloth or mesh material to aid whey drainage from the top and sides of the cheese to the whey escape routes normally out the bottom of the hoop or mold.
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Materials

The material used to make hoops and baskets used in cheese making needs to be food hygenic and if reused, easily cleanable. Historically materials used were woven straw, dried reeds, or woven wood for baskets and strips of wood for hoops. While these materials are still used. most modern manufactured hoops and baskets are made from food grade polypropylene or stainless steel.
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Strength

The strength of hoops and baskets used in cheese making is dependant on the forces the curds or cheese will be under while in the hoop or basket. These can range from minimal for very small gravity drained cheeses to low for large gravity drained cheese or lightly pressed cheeses to medium for large wheels with medium pressing weights to high for highly pressed cheeses such as cheddars.
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Examples

Large (Ricotta etc) Tapered Gravity Draining Baskets, 625w x 325d inch, 159w x 83d mm - CheeseForum.org
Large (Ricotta etc) Tapered Gravity Draining Baskets, 625w x 325d inch, 159w x 83d mm - CheeseForum.org

Examples of hoops:

  • Light weight thus poor strength with medium density of commonly round whey drainage holes. These are commonly plastic and used for unpressed or very lightly pressed cheeses while forming their shape such as Bries and Camemberts.
  • Medium strength with low density holes. These are commonly plastic and used for medium pressed cheeses while forming their shape such as rennet coagulated washed curd type cheeses Edam and Gouda.
  • Strong strength with low density or no holes. These are commonly stainless steel and used for very highly pressed cheeses such as cheddars.

Examples of baskets:

  • Very light strength with multiple holes or slots. These are commonly plastic with poor strength for pressing and are commonly used for gravity draining whey from curds when making soft cheeses. Some examples are lactic acid coagulated type cheeses such as Cream Cheese, Chevre, or lactic acid surface white mold ripened type cheeses such as Chaource & Saint-Marcellin, or secondary coagulated (usually recooked) type cheeses such as Ricotta.
  • Medium strength with medium number of holes or slots. These are commonly thicker plastic with medium strength for medium pressing. They are commonly used for medium pressed rennet coagulated cheeses. Some examples are rennet coagulated type cheeses Caprino & Manchego, and rennet coagulated washed curd type cheeses such as Edam, Gouda, and Colby.
  • High strength with medium number of holes or slots. These are commonly stainless steel with high strength for high pressing. They are commonly used for high pressed rennet coagulated cheddared (normally stacked and milled curds) type cheeses such as Cheddar, Derby, Red Leicester, Wensleydale, Cantal, and Monterey Jack.

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Availability

Small (Valencay etc) Pyramid Gravity Draining Baskets, 350w x 325d inch, 90w x 83d mm - CheeseForum.org
Small (Valencay etc) Pyramid Gravity Draining Baskets, 350w x 325d inch, 90w x 83d mm - CheeseForum.org

Many novice cheese makers start by improvising for their hoops and baskets, some examples are:

  • Small fruit baskets from grocery stores such as blueberry or strawberry baskets or small food grade plastic containers such as yogurt containers with holes drilled in.
  • Food grade normally white coloured PVC 4″ or 6″ diameter pipe from large hardware store with or without holes drilled in and round follower cut from polyethelene cutting board for pressing cheeses in. While this material is frequently used in house construction for cold and hot water supply, it is not recommended for use in cheese making due to the effects of low pH/highly acid cheese.
  • Given the non-ideal examples above, many hobby cheese makers upgrade to purpose built manufactured hoops and molds. These are generally purchased from Cheese Making stores. Our international listing of supply stores is here.

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Small (Camembert etc) Gravity Draining Hoops, 425w x 425d inch, 108w x 108d mm - CheeseForum.org
Small (Camembert etc) Gravity Draining Hoops, 425w x 425d inch, 108w x 108d mm - CheeseForum.org
Two Kadova Brand 1.5-2 kg Gouda Shape Pressing Molds - CheeseForum.org
Two Kadova Brand 1.5-2 kg Gouda Shape Pressing Molds - CheeseForum.org
Home Made 4 in, 103 mm Drilled PVC Hoop, Wooden Follower With Cheesecloth Wrap, & Improvised Weights - CheeseForum.org
Home Made 4 in, 103 mm Drilled PVC Hoop, Wooden Follower With Cheesecloth Wrap, & Improvised Weights - CheeseForum.org

Wiki: Microorganisms & Cheese Making

This Wiki Article provides an introduction to microorganisms common in cheese making. Microorganisms are organisms that are unicellular or live in a colony of cellular organisms such as bacteria, fungi, archaea, and protists; microscopic plants (green algae); and animals such as plankton and the planarian. Microorganisms were the first forms of life to develop on Earth, approximately 3–4 billion years ago, the study of microorganisms is called microbiology.

Microorganisms live in all parts of the earth’s biosphere where there is liquid water, including soil, hot springs, on the ocean floor, high in the atmosphere and deep inside rocks within the Earth’s crust. Microorganisms are critical to nutrient recycling in ecosystems as they act as decomposers. Microorganisms are present in raw milk and are used in controlling the fermentation process in making cheese, either natively or by additionally applying, and are critical in developing different cheese types flavours and aromas, and in inhibiting undesirable organisms. Microorganisms are also used in brewing, winemaking, baking, pickling and other food making processes. Historically and in many cases currently cheese has been made in very rustic facilities with many ambient/wild microorganisms, which does not necessarily mean unsanitary, but does result in cheese quality that is too inconsistent for modern cheese factories but good for home and artisan cheese making.

The main types of microorganisms used in making cheese are shown below.

Bacteria

Bacteria are a biological kingdom of simple single-celled, prokaryote (lacking a cell nucleus) microorganisms. They are typically a few micrometres in length and have a wide range of shapes ranging from spheres to rods and spirals. Bacteria are ubiquitous in every habitat, growing in water, soil, acidic hot springs, as well as in organic matter and the live bodies of plants and animals including humans. There are typically 40 million bacterial cells in a gram of soil and a million bacterial cells in a millilitre of fresh water; and in total form a bacteria with a biomass which exceeds that of all plants and animals. There are approximately ten times as many bacterial cells in the human flora as there are cells in the human body, large numbers of bacteria are on the skin and in the intestines. Bacteria are vital in recycling nutrients, however most bacteria have not been characterised, the study of bacteria is known as bacteriology, a branch of microbiology.

Bacteria reproduce asexually by simple division of the cell and its contents, called fission. The doubling time can be as short as 20 min, and as each cell grows and divides at the same rate as the parent cell, this could under favourable conditions translate to an increase from one to 10 million cells in 11 hours. However, bacterial growth in reality is limited by lack of nutrients, accumulation of toxins and metabolic wastes, unfavourable temperatures and dessication. Bacterial populations are expressed as colony forming units (CFU) per gram or millilitre.

Bacterial growth generally has several phases:

  • Lag Phase: Time for bacteria to become accustomed to their new environment. There is little or no growth during this phase.
  • Log Phase: Bacteria exponential growth begins; the rate of multiplication is the most rapid and constant.
  • Stationary Phase: Rate of multiplication slows down due to lack of nutrients and build-up of toxins. At the same time, bacteria are constantly dying so the numbers actually remain constant.
  • Death Phase: Cell numbers decrease as growth stops and existing cells die off.

Milk is sterile at secretion into the udder but is contaminated by bacteria before it leaves the udder. Except in the case of mastitis, the natural microflora of bacteria at this point are harmless and few in number. Further infection of the milk by microorganisms can take place during milking, handling, storage, and other pre-processing activities. If significant lactic acid producing bacteria are in raw milk, it will, with time and warmer temperatures, multiply, acidify and curdle the milk (commonly called clabber) after which whey can be drained. However, depending on bacteria amount and types this can result in either inefficient, uncontrollable, and unpredictable and thus variable results and if lactic acid producing bacteria are minimal, an environment for unwanted/unhealthy bacteria to reproduce. Thus to extend shelf life, milk is commonly pasteurized to kill off most of the bacteria, both good and bad types. Commonly in cheese making, wanted lactic acid producing bacteria are added (inoculation) to the milk, to out-compete unwanted native bacteria, these are called starter cultures.

Common bacteria used in making cheese are:

  • Lactic Acid Producing Bacteria: Commonly called starter cultures, naturally in milk but commonly added to milk to ferment lactose in milk to lactic acid causing coagulation and release of whey to condense remaining milk ingredients into cheese for longer shelf life.
  • Brevibacterium linens which is ubiquitously present on the human skin where it causes foot odor and applied to give cheese rinds an orange colour and a very pungent aroma, examples are Limburger and Port-du-Salut.

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Fungi

In biological terms, Fungi are a Kingdom and thus different from other Kingdoms such as plants, animals, and bacteria. Fungi are made up of yeasts, molds (spelt moulds in Britain) and mushrooms. The discipline of the study of fungi is called mycology, a branch of microbiology. Fungi are abundant worldwide but most are inconspicuous because of the small size of their structures. They may become noticeable when fruiting, either as mushrooms or molds. Fungi perform an essential role in the decomposition of organic matter and have fundamental roles in nutrient cycling and exchange. Fungi have long been used as a direct source of food, such as mushrooms and truffles as a leavening agent for bread, and in fermentation of various food products, such as wine, beer, soy sauce, and cheese.

Little is known of the true biodiversity of the Fungi Kingdom, which has been estimated at around 1.5 million species, with about 5% of these having been formally classified. Most fungi grow in cylindrical, thread-like structures 2–10 µm in diameter and up to several centimeters in length called hyphae. From these they grow by a combination of apical growth and branching/forking resulting in mycelium, an interconnected network of hyphae which is normally more visible to the naked eye, (ie fuzzy mold on damp walls, spoiled food such as bread, or on cheese where used to provide flavour and aroma.

Yeast Fungi

Currently yeasts are thought to be about 1% of all fungal species, about 500 have been described by mycologists. Yeasts ferment carbohydrates to carbon dioxide and alcohols, and are common in baking such as bread making for their carbon dioxide forming attributes and in for their alcohol making attributes in alcoholic beverage making such as beer and wine.

Yeasts are intentionally used in making some cheese types to enable rind development and are also a source of unwanted “infections” resulting in rising bread/beer yeasty smells and swelling. Note that Swiss types cheeses with eyes (Emmenthaler, Leerdammer) are not made with yeast but with Propionibacterium freudenreichii, a bacteria.

Mold Fungi

Molds grow like mushrooms, they have a surface component and send down roots called mycelia into the insides of the cheese where they break down the fats and proteins and create different flavors and textures, some penetrate just cheese rinds, some penetrate the whole paste (for example Brie or Camembert.

Common molds used in making cheese are

  • Geotrichum.
  • Penicillium white strains used in making the fluffy coating on Brie/Camembert.
  • Penicillium blue strains used in giving blue cheeses such as Roquefort and Stilton their distinctive blue to blue-green veins.

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Wiki: Example Cheese Caves

Small chest freezer for cheese cave, freezing mode, note frost buildup.

Cheese Cave is the slang term for the storage system in which aged cheeses are ripened. This wiki article discusses several examples of different Cheese Cave systems, Cheese Cave requirements are discussed in the Wiki: Cheese Cave Requirements article.

No manufactures make purpose-built small cheese caves and no one cheese cave system fits all. Thus all are built from different systems and  while the range of solutions is infinite, the following are common examples of hobby and artisan cheese caves, their descriptions, temperature and humidity systems, and their pros & cons starting from small/cheap through large/expensive:

Small Cooler Box

Two 0.5 kg cumin & plain Gouda's aging in small drinks cooler on ice block.
Two 0.5 kg cumin & plain Gouda's aging in small drinks cooler on ice block.

Description

  • Small retail box often used to hold cool drinks or hot food for picnic or party.
  • Commonly made out of styrofoam or dual layer plastic with insulation in between.

Cooling

  • Ice or retail plastic and gel freezer block in bottom changed twice per day.

Humidity

  • Normally excessively provided by melting ice or sweating/condensation on freezer block while melting and by drying cheese.
  • Commonly have to crack lid on box and mop out puddled water at bottom of box to keep humidity below 100%.

Pros & Cons

  • Hard to control temperature and humidity.
  • Cheese is in close contact with very cold ice or freezer block.
  • Labor intensive to maintain long-term.
  • Provides little spare physical room.

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Large Cooler Box

Most Of Two 0.5 kg Cumin & Plain Gouda's Aging In Medium Drinks Cooler With Large Ice Block On Side
Most Of Two 0.5 kg Cumin & Plain Gouda's Aging In Medium Drinks Cooler With Large Ice Block On Side

Description

  • Large retail box often used to hold cool drinks or hot food for picnic or party.
  • Commonly made out of styrofoam or dual layer plastic with insulation in between.

Cooling

  • Ice or freezer blocks in side changed once per day.

Humidity

  • Normally adequately provided by melting ice or sweating/condensation on freezer block while melting and by drying cheese.
  • Commonly have to mop out puddled water at bottom of box to keep humidity below 100%.

Pros & Cons

  • More room than small cooler box to locate ice and perspiration away from cheese.
  • Can house more cheeses.
  • Labor intensive to maintain long-term.

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Small Food Fridge (& Freezer)

Pre-Wired Johnson Controls Brand Model A19 Analog Thermostat.
Pre-Wired Johnson Controls Brand Model A19 Analog Thermostat.

Description

  • Small less than 0.75 m / 30 in high sealed electric fridge sometimes with mini freezer compartment at top.
  • Smaller ones often used by college kids in dormitory rooms, larger ones for small households to store food and drink.
  • Cooling either by heat exchange pump transmitted to fridge by radiant cooling plate at back of fridge, sometimes augmented by small fan, or by small compressor transmitted to mini freezer compartment which provides radiant cooling to fridge area, normally without fan.

Cooling

  • Thermostat normally does not allow fridge to go warm enough and thus have to either:
    • Cut foam sheet to shape, install in front of or under cooling device and temperature sensor to trick internal thermostat to thinking it has cooled enough. Have to adjust air flow between refrigerated side and cheese cave side to regulate cheese cave temperature.
    • Purchase and use external override thermostat from Johnson Controls, Ranco, or other manufacturer.

Humidity

Four 4 lb Gouda's Aging In Small Fridge With External Thermostat
Four 4 lb Gouda's Aging In Small Fridge With External Thermostat
  • If unit is fully sealed, no condensation drip line to outside, then humidity normally builds to excessive 100% with free water dripping from freezer compartment onto plastic drip tray requiring toweling out daily or twice daily.
  • If unit is fully sealed except for drip line to outside, then natural humidity is often insufficient and can be added by:
    • Bowl of water to which water is added as evaporated.
    • Bowl of water and a small towel draped in and out of water to act as a wick.
    • Small electric humidifier with soda/pop bottle periodically filled with water.

Pros

  • If shelves are plastic or chrome coated wire then will enable good air circulation from bottom of cheese.
  • Units with drip line require water bowl and thus reduce space available for cheese.

Cons

  • If shelves are solid glass then will provide poor air circulation from bottom of ripening cheeses and have to install ventilating matting.
  • Units without condensation drip lines are labor intensive to towel mop out excessive moisture.
  • Either fiddly to install space reducing foam thermal barrier or added cost from external thermostat.
  • Often minimal shelf height adjustment results in less cheeses fitting in cave.
  • Inside of door is often molded plastic shaped to house drinks etc which erodes useable space for ripening cheeses.
  • If freezer compartment, then that column is unusable for cheeses.

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Wine Bottle Cooler Fridge

Pre-Wired Johnson Controls Brand Model A419 NEMA 1 Digital Thermostat.
Pre-Wired Johnson Controls Brand Model A419 NEMA 1 Digital Thermostat.

Description

  • Sealed electric fridge (nor freezer) purpose-built to store wine bottles horizontally, often with glass door to enable viewing of bottles.
  • Range in size from small holding six standard 0.75 liter wine bottles to very large holding 100’s.
  • Cooling for small units is normally provided by heat exchanger metal plate at back inside of unit or by compressor and fan for larger units.

Cooling

  • Thermostat normally does allow fridge to go warm enough for cheese cave temperatures and thus do not need to install foam sheet to isolate cooling device and temperature sensor or purchase external override thermostat.

Humidity

  • Same as above for small fridges.

Pros

  • Shelves are commonly chrome or plastic coated wire which would offer good air circulation from bottom of cheese.
  • Unlike conventional food fridges, door does not have space wasting food container holders.
  • Unlike conventional food fridges, does not require making and installing thermal barrier to trick thermostat or purchase of external thermostat.
  • More useable space for cheeses as no freezer and door does not have space wasting plastic shelving for food or drinks.
  • Can see your cheeses through glass door.

Cons

  • Shelves are often curved shape to hold wine bottles and thus not suitable for cheeses and have to be replaced.
  • Units with drip line require device to add humidity reducing space available for cheeses.
  • Often more expensive to purchase than conventional food fridges, sometimes reviewed as less mechanically reliable than standard food fridge.
  • Larger space than picnic coolers although often minimal shelf height adjustment results in less cheeses fitting in cave.

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Chest Style Food Freezers

Small Chest Freezer For Cheese Cave.
Small Chest Freezer For Cheese Cave.

Description

  • Sealed electric chest shaped freezer (no fridge) purpose-built to freeze and store large volume of food frozen.
  • Normally a rectangular box with small section at one end boxed out for external compressor, cooling wires built into walls, no shelving, sometimes sold with hanging plastic coated wire baskets, normally flat – no storage devices in vertical opening horizontal lid.
  • Range in size from small holding ~0.5 m3 to 3 m3 of frozen food.

Cooling

  • Thermostat normally does allow freezer to go warm enough for cheese cave temperatures and need to purchase and install external override thermostat from Johnson Controls, Ranco, or other manufacturer.

Humidity

Small chest freezer for cheese cave, freezing mode, note frost buildup.
Small chest freezer for cheese cave, freezing mode, note frost buildup.
  • As unit is normally fully sealed, no condensation drip line to outside, then humidity builds to excessive 100% with free water dripping down walls and building into puddles on bottom of freezer requiring toweling out daily or twice daily to maintain reasonable cheese cave humidity.

Pros

  • Large flexible volume in which to ripen many cheeses.

Cons

  • Have to make own shelving system.
  • Top only access thus need space for door to open up and awkward to reach cheeses at bottom of chest freezer.
  • Labor intensive to remove free water to try to maintain humidity at cheese cave required level.

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Vertical Style Food Freezers

Several Cheeses Aging In Sealed Chest Type Freezer With External Thermostat
Several Cheeses Aging In Sealed Chest Type Freezer With External Thermostat

Description

  • Sealed electric vertical shaped freezer (no fridge) purpose-built to freeze and store large volumes of food frozen.
  • Normally a rectangular box with small section boxed out at bottom for external compressor, cooling wires built into shelves, sometimes with pull out drawers, normally flat – no storage devices in side opening vertical door.
  • Range in size from small holding ~0.5 m3 to 2 m3 of frozen food.

Cooling

  • Thermostat normally does allow freezer to go warm enough for cheese cave temperatures and need to purchase and install external override thermostat from Johnson Controls, Ranco, or other manufacturer.

Humidity

  • As unit is normally fully sealed, no condensation drip line to outside, then humidity builds on cooling wire shelves to excessive 100% free water which drips down on top of ripening cheeses resulting in locations for molds or yeast to grow and eventual puddling of water in base of unit requiring toweling out daily or twice daily to maintain reasonable cheese cave humidity.

Pros

  • Large volume in which to ripen many cheeses.
  • Shelves and if drawers provide easy access to cheeses.

Cons

  • Shelving or drawer system is normally not flexible in height reducing amount of cheeses that can be stored.
  • Liquid water dripping on ripening cheeses results in defects.
  • Labor intensive to remove free water to try to maintain humidity at cheese cave required level.

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Vertical Style Food Fridges (& Freezers)

Description

  • Common kitchen sealed electric vertical shaped fridge, sometimes with connected freezer at top, sometimes with separate freezer at top or more recently on bottom purpose-built to keep large volumes of food and drink cool and if freezer then frozen.
  • Normally a rectangular box with small section boxed out at bottom for external compressor, cooling provided by fan circulating air over external cooling coils, several adjustable shelves, sometimes with pull out vegetable higher humidity storage drawers, normally plastic molded food containers in vertical side opening door to hold bottles and small items.
  • Range in size from small holding ~1 m3 to 3 m3 of storage space.

Cooling

  • Thermostat normally does now allow fridge to go warm enough for cheese cave temperatures and need to purchase and install external override thermostat from Johnson Controls, Ranco, or other manufacturer.

Humidity

  • As air is blown by fan over cooling coils, humidity in air condenses on cooling coils which trickles down and out of fridge on to an evaporation pan at bottom of fridge resulting in very low ~30% humidity.
  • If unit is fully sealed except for drip line to outside, then natural humidity is often insufficient and can be added by:
    • Bowl of water to which water is added as evaporated.
    • Bowl of water or water in drawer and a small towel draped in and out of water to act as a wick. If large fridge then drape wick across forced air vent to increase moisture vaporization.
    • Small electric humidifier with soda/pop bottle periodically filled with water.

Pros

  • Large volume in which to ripen many cheeses.
  • Shelves provide easy access to cheeses.
  • Shelves if chrome or plastic metal wires allow air circulation below bottom of cheeses.
  • Shelves often height adjustable increasing usable space.
  • Easier to increase humidity than to decrease as with some of the examples listed.

Cons

  • If unit includes freezer then that section is largely unusable for ripening cheese.
  • If shelves are solid glass then will provide poor air circulation from bottom of ripening cheeses and have to install ventilating matting.
  • If unit includes drawers, then normally a poor use of space.
  • Humidity providing system takes up usable space.
  • Inside of door is often molded plastic shaped to house drinks etc which erodes useable space for ripening cheeses.

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