Author Topic: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?  (Read 66383 times)

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #15 on: November 27, 2012, 04:45:35 AM »
This is my setup, including some mini-cave solutions I am using:

BBracken, I like your set up. Where do you get those boxes with the grid/rack in the bottom?  Are they BPA free?

Gobae, What type of cave are you thinking about building?  Insulated room in house with air conditioner and coolbot?  Cellar room?  Cave?

Love hearing about how others are figuring the cave thing out!

Montie Derby

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #16 on: November 27, 2012, 05:09:59 AM »
Tiarella:  I have to pull up and out each shelf and, yes, I do put waxed or bagged cheese down 'below' to age longer.  Keeping them deep below puts them out of mind and helps me combat the urge to 'bust open' cheese too early.   I had the same issue with the fluorescent grids but the solution I came up with is using metal mesh cake cooling rack.. you know the ones to cool cakes and cookies on.  I cut them with a hacksaw to fit the dimentions of my dorm fridge... I took out the shelves that came with the fridge  and slid the cake rack into the slots.  It was rigid enough to support the grid and the rack allowed air to circulate.   A little bend but nothing that messed up the cheeses. 

Upside of a chest freezer is that it retains humidity.  I find it easier to get it out (damp rid, salt) then to put it in like with a Dorm Fridge.  Thanks.

bbracken677

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #17 on: November 27, 2012, 01:45:36 PM »
This is my setup, including some mini-cave solutions I am using:


BBracken, I like your set up. Where do you get those boxes with the grid/rack in the bottom?  Are they BPA free?




I got that (2 of them, the one with the 2 blues in it) at "The Container Store" here in Dallas...you can also buy online.  The container and grid come together, I just cut the legs off so it would sit lower. I then cut out the center of the lid so that I can adjust the humidity...I can adjust the RH from between about 60% up to 95%.
 
The larger one (with the cams) I got at target or walmart...forget which. The grid inside is a brie grid I bought online somewhere.

I looked and I do not see them listed on the website...but I did find this, which looks interesting for cheese: http://www.containerstore.com/shop/kitchen/foodStorage?productId=10020413&N=176+1000041&Ns=p_price_sort%7C1
« Last Edit: November 27, 2012, 02:55:43 PM by bbracken677 »

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #18 on: November 28, 2012, 02:45:46 AM »
I'll check for boxes next time I'm near civilization.  I'm enjoying using the light grid inside the boxes I have.  And I just got an order from iratherfly and it included some stiff mesh that I'm liking very much.  it is stiff enough that I can just put it over a couple of bottle lids and it'll hold a cheese up.

Offline Gobae

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #19 on: November 29, 2012, 03:37:19 AM »
Quote
Gobae, What type of cave are you thinking about building?  Insulated room in house with air conditioner and coolbot?  Cellar room?  Cave?

I've got an old mini-fridge that was designed for soda sales (so it has glass sides and door). Once I take measurements to make sure it'll fit down the stairs, I plan to put it down in my basement.

Since the house was built in 1860 it's got a deep, dark earthen basement that stays about 50-60F on it's own but it can high or lower than that during seasonal extremes. The minifridge will take care of evening that out (at least during the summers). I haven't figured out what to do in the winters when the basement can get as cold as 40-45F though.  Eventually I want to take as much advantage of the cellar as possible and build two rooms; one for cheese and one as a root cellar.
« Last Edit: November 29, 2012, 12:27:35 PM by Gobae »

Peynirci

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #20 on: November 29, 2012, 04:11:31 AM »
I bought some spruce boards for in my cave.  So far I've struggled to keep the humidity high enough, I've been averaging about 70% by putting a shallow pan in the bottom and dampening cotton strips and laying them on the wood, but it's still not enough.  Anyone know of a good mister or other humidifier that I could use so that I can keep the humidity up around 80% for my alpine style cheeses?[/img]
« Last Edit: November 29, 2012, 04:20:17 AM by Case at the Fæt »

Montie Derby

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #21 on: November 29, 2012, 05:27:36 AM »
Case:  regarding humidity...

Here is a forum discussion from 2010 about improving humidity in mini-caves:

http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,2029.msg33198.html#msg33198

I use this brand of personal humidifier.  It works for me ( just wish the cord was thinner):

http://m.walgreens.com/mt/www.walgreens.com/store/c/walgreens-compact-personal-ultrasonic-humidifier/ID=prod6040512-product

You use a plastic water bottle as the reservoir.

They have another, seemingly smaller unit:

http://m.walgreens.com/mt/www.walgreens.com/store/c/air-o-swiss-travel-ultrasonic-humidifier/ID=prod6042732-product

mjr522

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #22 on: December 21, 2012, 06:09:47 PM »
I meant to post here last month, but forgot.  Here's the space under my basement that I turned into a cave.  I've got more cheese in it now, but it's still pretty sparse (5 cheeses, 17 lbs or so).


Offline Tiarella

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #23 on: December 22, 2012, 01:53:07 AM »
I meant to post here last month, but forgot.  Here's the space under my basement that I turned into a cave.  I've got more cheese in it now, but it's still pretty sparse (5 cheeses, 17 lbs or so).

Mike, I like it!  it's sort of what I might do but a cheese maker friend told me I'd outgrow and I should wall off a section of the basement to use.  Now I'm not sure....also wondering about burying a shipping container and dividing onto root cellar and cheese cave.

mjr522

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #24 on: December 22, 2012, 05:37:57 AM »
I would have liked to have buried something, but with 0.16 acres, a trampoline, a hot tub (broken--it was here when we got the place) and all the kids that like to play in what we have of a yard, that just wasn't an option.  Next time we move we will hopefully get a place with some more space--maybe enough to have an animal or two (besides the kids and dog...).

sofusryge

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #25 on: December 27, 2012, 10:55:49 PM »
This is my cheesecave/winecellar. It's dug out under my garage, and shares a wall with the basement of my house. The temperature fluctuates somewhat through the year, i have recorded it to between 15,5 Celsius (summer) and 9,8 Celsius (winter). I could probably even it out a little by limit the airflow through the room. The humidity is kept in the high eighties to low nineties by pouring out water on the concrete floor at intervals. The walls and ceiling are limewashed.

As i have only been crafting cheeses for a few months, i haven't really got a feel for the caves qualities and limitations yet, but i guess it will come in good time.

Offline Tiarella

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #26 on: December 27, 2012, 11:04:57 PM »
Wow!  That is BEAUTIFUL!!!!  I'm very happy for you!  Wish I had something like that.  Thanks for sharing your photos!  My cheeses are currently all in mini-cave boxes in a cold room in my basement and that works for winter but I'll be in trouble in the summer when the temps rise.  I'll need some new idea before then.

Offline Al Lewis

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #27 on: December 27, 2012, 11:48:40 PM »
Floor looks like the floor of a old milking shed we use to keep our Formula Fords in over in England.  Trough ran the length of the place.  Would love to have that setup here.
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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #28 on: December 28, 2012, 05:13:27 AM »
This is the larger Cave


this is the slight smaller Cave :


and this the smallest "warm" Cave ( used for temperatures that promote swelling of emmenthal/jarlsberg.. --- yes, it used to be my small barfridge too  :'( ) actually the cheese inside are the 2 jarlsberg


Please note the "high tech" Gauges for temperature taking :-)

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sofusryge

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Re: Will you share photos of your caves? and Mini-cave techniques?
« Reply #29 on: December 28, 2012, 09:37:05 AM »
Wow!  That is BEAUTIFUL!!!!  I'm very happy for you!  Wish I had something like that.  Thanks for sharing your photos!  My cheeses are currently all in mini-cave boxes in a cold room in my basement and that works for winter but I'll be in trouble in the summer when the temps rise.  I'll need some new idea before then.

Thanks Tiarella. It was quite a hassle to renovate the cellar, a lot of dirt and concrete to carry in baskets up and down a narrow staircase. It was really just a damp and uninviting root-cellar when we bought the house, i had to excavate a part of the cellar to be able to stand up straight down there.

Floor looks like the floor of a old milking shed we use to keep our Formula Fords in over in England.  Trough ran the length of the place.  Would love to have that setup here.

The trough is actually excavated to be able to stand up straight in the cellar. I did it only down the middle of the room partly to minimize the amount of dirt i had to carry up the stairs, partly due to the fact that I'm digging below the foundation of the house and it's built on unstable ground.

Here are some pics taken during the renovating: