Hi, I work at a store in West Michigan that just started carrying cheese making supplies and we are all excited to begin cheese making. However, for maturing cheeses we do not yet have the means of doing so. We are considering building a cheese cave in one of our walk in beer coolers which has various degrees of climate due to how it is refrigerated and layout. I found an area of the cooler which is about 55 degrees, however the humidity is about 63%. So we were considering building an enclosure at that area so we can control the humidity better and isolate the cheese from the rest of the cooler and everything that enters it.
I have noticed that installing a barrier around that location does not effect the temperature at all, so I think we will be closing that part off for the cheese cave. Now I am curious as to what precautions I should take when building this cheese cave at the store and what are appropriate materials for the cave. The area itself is mostly plywood in construction (it's a old walkin fridge). So I was thinking of enclosing the area, dividing it into at least two compartments and using wire racks (we have some laying around in our warehouse not being used) to build the cheese cave.
Now I haven't taken exact measurements since my schedule rencently has not permitted me to do so, But I should be able to take care of that shortly. I would guess that the area is about 2.5 feet wide and about 2.5 feet deep int he shape of a triangle and about 3 feet tall, but those are definitely not accurate measurements.
My boss has offered me time and money to build the cheese cave, but I don't want to do it with out consultation. I would rather not waste my time and the resources screwing it up. So if anyone has any ideas, if you could please let me know.
Thanks,
-Greg