My Humidity Aging Box

[Sailor Con Queso]

Here is an easy to make homemade humidity box. I make a lot of Blues which I age for 6 to 8 weeks in the box, the vacuum bag and finish out at 55F in my cave. I have had 100% success using this technique on a table in my garage, which stays 62-66F all year. I am also aging some natural rind cheeses in these boxes at this temperature. Gotta watch the mold with 85-90%+ humidity.

Photos:
1- The materials - the plastic container, STAINLESS screws, "eggcrate" cut to fit.
2- Eggcrate cut to fit
3- Mark two holes on each side of the box (mine is 5" from the bottom).
4- No need to drill. The screws go right in. Do not screw too tightly.

[Sailor Con Queso]

.....more photos

5- The screw pattern as seen from above
6- The eggcrate installed (resting on the screws).
7- The finished box (not shown with the lid)
8- Add about 2" of water. Add cheese. And... TaDa... A pair of happy Stiltons.

I use a plastic drying mat so the cheese does not actually sit on the eggcrate. I have not given any measurements, because this can be adapted to fit any container. The one I use will hold two 7-1/2" wheels. I keep a temperature/humidity monitor in the box. When the humidity gets too high, just open the lid a little. Like today. It's raining, so the humidity shot up to 99%.

Easy, but very efficient project.

[DeejayDebi]

Nice idea Sailor!

[handyface]

Looks good - have been thinking about something similar for a little while, as my current sealed wine-coolers can only get up to around 85% humidity.

[MrsKK]

Just my kind of "gadget" - simple and cheap to make.  Thanks for sharing!

[vogironface]

Sailor,

This is way to big to go in a small cave so you must be using it on the counter.  What kinds of cheeses do you age in this?  Thanks for the idea, it is great.

[Sailor Con Queso]

Primarily blues, but I am also experimenting with several other hard cheeses on a counter in my garage at around 64F. I age my blues for 6 weeks then vacuum bag and put in my cave at 54F. The other cheeses I am aging for 30 days before transferring.

You can make a much smaller version of this box that will fit in a small cave.

[mtncheesemaker]

Hey, thanks for the handy demo, Sailor. I've jury-rigged something similar for a draining box to keep my camemberts out of the whey.
Do you ever have cross-contamination of molds from your blues? It seems that you make them a lot. I'm using the same utensils for blues and non-blues, cleaning with Star-san in between, but I wonder if I'm asking for trouble?
I age in plastic boxes in my cold room, so the blues aren't exposed to the other cheeses, but I wonder...
Thanks,
Pam

[Sailor Con Queso]

Molds are everywhere, so it's impossible not to get cross contamination. I do keep my blues in a separate area, but the trick is to not let mold take over on your hard cheeses. Wipe the rind with vinegar as soon as you see it, pat dry and apply olive oil (or oil of your choice). Most molds don't like the lower pH from the vinegar, and the oil cuts off some of the oxygen.

When I do hard cheeses in my humidity box, I put a couple of tablespoons of vinegar in the water reservoir. That helps a lot.

[Aris]

Im sorry for bringing up an old thread, but i have some questions. Im also using a similar aging box, my questions are, do you close your lid when aging a blue cheese? or do i have to leave a small opening? and how can i tell if the humidity of the box is high enough for a blue cheese without a hygrometer?

Thanks in advance,

[Brentsbox]

Thanks Sailor,  thats a great idea to put some vinegar in the water in the humidity box.  I have a couple of pans of water in my refrigerator/cave to up the humidity and am going to that to them.  I had wondered about that before.   Great idea!   Thanks.

[Brentsbox]

Sailor,  when you vac bag your blues, do you clean them up any first?  I have one in the box now that the outside is totally covered with blue and i know it would mostly brush off with a light brush. 

[Sailor Con Queso]

There are a couple of ways that I manage my Stiltons.

If the cheese has an obviously mixed group of molds I scrape and then air dry for a day or two before bagging.

If It had a strong dominant blue throughout ripening I actually prefer to bag with a full bloom of blue mold going. This makes for an incredibly goopy, messy rind on the finished cheese. But the rind is intensely delicious. We like to scrape the goop off and use it in other recipes. Great on a steak. One of our favorites is fresh figs stuffed with Stilton goop, wrapped in Prosciutto, then baked at 350F for 20 minutes. Mmmmm.... Mama Mia that's good.

[Randommate]

Great aging box. I do a similar thing but with a foam broccoli box from the local fruit shop. Also helps with the temps here in aust where even in winter it's over 60f regularly. Found it is easy to maintain 50-60f with a few 600ml coke or water bottles frozen and cycled before and after work.. it's cheap and can easily fit the product of a small 10L blue cheese making effort so is great for starting out.. Just remember it's annoys mould factory once it's been used 

[ArnaudForestier]

I'd forgotten about this solution of yours, Sailor, till it was referenced just now.  Really elegant,  thanks very much - have a few finicky reblochons that can use the nursing right about now.