Author Topic: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?  (Read 66321 times)

BobE102330

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #75 on: June 23, 2013, 09:21:31 PM »
I got the Lux WIN100 for $35.  The leads are very short, only about an inch.  But, if you are reasonably handy it is easy to splice in a length of zip cord to meet your length requirement.  It's on the low voltage side, so there isn't much to worry about other than voiding your warranty.  I opened it up and disconnected the spade terminals to the sensor lead and spliced some zip cord in with crimp splices.  You could also use wire nuts or solder and wrap in electrical tape.

It's cheap, but there are other options available for $10-30 more if you're not comfortable modifying the length of the lead.

In answer to your question, Al, I don't know what happens when the battery dies.  I've only had it 6 months.  The battery is just a backup to retain the settings when the mains power goes out.  As long as there is power, the system works fine.  I'll probably replace the battery once a year, but it should last longer.

John@PC

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #76 on: June 23, 2013, 11:45:11 PM »
Here's my cave.  Cheese is sparse right now but working to get it back into shape.  Only one mini-cave that has a Reblochon (with a booster b. linens wash) that is only a couple of weeks old but smells like it's ready for a change of socks.

It's me again trying to get an upright picture here.    Saved it as a .gif so if this doesn't work I'll make sure to take pics in regular portrait mode and crop as needed. Sure wish the pics could be previewed like the posts :-\.


BobE102330

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #77 on: June 24, 2013, 12:47:24 AM »
John, it looks like you need to get busy making cheese.  ::) 

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #78 on: June 24, 2013, 01:19:01 AM »
John,  It looks like your fridge has it's tongue hanging out at the bottom.   ;D

Offline Boofer

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #79 on: June 24, 2013, 02:37:43 AM »
John, it looks like you need to get busy making cheese.  ::)
Hello...hello...hello....<crickets>

 :P

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Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

John@PC

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #80 on: June 24, 2013, 11:05:46 AM »
John,  It looks like your fridge has it's tongue hanging out at the bottom.   ;D

Yeah, my cave sticks out it's tongue at me when it wants more cheese ;D.  My first cave was a dorm fridge and this one's an old frost-free, but with both I had problems with water condensing and collecting at the bottom.  I got tired of wiping out the water and decided to see if I could "wick" it out.  The tongue is a towel, and the water wicks into the towel and drains by capillary action into the pan even when the door is closed.  Works like a charm.

And yes Boofer, I'm working as hard as I can re-stocking.  What happened is that when I changed to this fridge there was a slight but distinct fridge odor to the rinds.  I decided to stop making for awhile and move all the cheeses out (or better yet, eat them) and do a complete sanitizing of the fridge including removing the freezer panels and cleaning out the air plenum and coils.  The attached pic showed some of the "stuff" I found.  Cleaned all junk out, wiped all surfaces with a pine oil cleaner and followed up with a bleach/water/detergent spray.   No off odors now, and some samples cut from the new cheeses seem to indicated problem solved.


Offline Boofer

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #81 on: June 24, 2013, 01:58:39 PM »
 Alright! Cleanliness is next to cheeseiness.  :D

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Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

shotski

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #82 on: June 25, 2013, 01:39:57 AM »
Alright! Cleanliness is next to cheeseiness.  :D

-Boofer-

Right on brother :D

BobE102330

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #83 on: June 25, 2013, 03:15:16 AM »
Here is one of my dorm fridges - this one PID controlled.  Housing a mixed bag of cheeses, mostly vacuum bagged.  For natural rinds, I have a 7 month Montasio on top left, this weekend's Manchego on the shelf below. Bagged cheeses include a couple Goudas (4 months and 3 weeks old), a 6 month cheddar, Caerphilly, another chunk of Montasio, a raw milk Tomme and some chipotle cheddar.  Generally running at 55F and 80-85% humidity.  Guess I should have wiped the bottom before taking the picture.   :-[

My other fridge is a hair larger, and only half full, running on a Lux controller.  It holds a couple of natural rind parmesans, Stiltons, Gruyere and a tomme.  It uses a drip pan with a wadded up microfiber cloth to try to keep the humidity up.  So far it's only been able to hit mid 70s.

I also have my second Jarlsberg in its warm phase. 

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #84 on: June 25, 2013, 09:51:50 AM »
Impressive, Bob!  That's a LOT of cheese!  Do you eat a lot of cheese, have a big family, share a lot with others or just suffer from the usual forum member malady of being addicted to experimenting/experiencing cheese making?   ;D.  My fridge contents look positively lonely.   ???

Offline Boofer

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #85 on: June 25, 2013, 01:11:28 PM »
...or just suffer from the usual forum member malady of being addicted to experimenting/experiencing cheese making?   ;D.
Hey, wait a minute! Who's pointing fingers?  :)

Bob, that's a nice collection. No one's asked "Don't you have enough cheese?" That normally follows the eye roll here.  ;)

-Boofer-
Let's ferment something!
Bread, beer, wine, cheese...it's all good.

jwalker

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #86 on: June 25, 2013, 01:35:30 PM »
Bob , it looks like all or most of the cheeses in there are vacuum packed , is that how you age your cheeses , or do you use any other methods , like wax , coating with oil , cream wax , natural rind etc. ?

I am just ordering a vacuum sealer now , hoping to try it out soon.

Cheers , Jim.

BobE102330

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #87 on: June 25, 2013, 11:02:43 PM »
My kids are adults and living on their own, but they and my Dad get cheese shipments. I also have friends who like my cheese. Yes, Tiarella there is a bit too much "I want to try making that" and trying to age out some. 

My current total is about 40 pounds, not too much.  ;)  Yes, my girlfriend gives the entire hobby an eye roll.  Not that she and her extended family haven't made requests for particular cheese. 

Jim, I vacuum bag many of my long aging cheeses to make maintenance easier.  I have waxed, but bagging is easier, and quicker to identify weeping cheeses than wax.  I may wax the Goudas just for style points.  My other fridge has more natural and oiled rinds. I have done Camemberts, and will do more once i get the Stiltons eaten.  I am tempted to buy an upright freezer to give me more space for mini caves.  Not to mention it would be nice to have half my cheese at eye level and not need to bend down so much.  Ah, the joys of aging. 

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #88 on: June 29, 2013, 01:31:06 AM »
Can someone please reply with a link to  a digital temp controller on Amazon that doesn't require any wiring work?  I really just need something simple right now.   :P. Cheap is good too.  I was thinking a Lux brand.  I want something reliable of course but budget is limited.  I'll be plugging a small freezer into it.


Sailor Con Queso

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #89 on: June 29, 2013, 02:26:21 AM »
I use 7 different Ranco digital controllers on my cave, milk coolers, etc. I wouldn't use anything else. Flawless, reliable operation. Buy the pre-wired version. The few extra bucks is well worth it.

Ranco Controller