Author Topic: Which: small fridge or wine cooler?  (Read 3223 times)

GotGoats

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Which: small fridge or wine cooler?
« on: September 27, 2010, 01:22:48 PM »
My husband has said that next week, we can go shopping for a cheese cave. I'm a bit nervous about getting a cave prior to actually making any hard cheese, but I really don't have the time to take care of cheese in a cooler or anything with our farm and small children. I can't swap out ice twice a day ... it just won't happen on schedule.  :-[ It's better to admit it in advance, right?  ;)

I've been all over this forum the last three days, read just about everything on wine coolers that I could find, and much on the fridges.

I've found a wine cooler that doesn't sound like it has auto-defrost, BUT it's thermo electric? I can't seem to pinpoint from this forum exactly WHY thermo electric is bad, if it's a humidity issue or something else, like a reliability issue.

(I'm nervous about anything auto-defrost, because the humidity needs to be so high . . . . am I right about this? LOL)

I've also found a 3.2 cubic refrigerator (for half the price), manual de-frost at a local Sam's.

So, which would be easier to adapt for cheese?

mtncheesemaker

  • Guest
Re: Which: small fridge or wine cooler?
« Reply #1 on: September 27, 2010, 01:42:59 PM »
I use a regular refrigerator with an external thermostat control. The humidity can be handled in a few different ways.
If you start aging cheeses in rubbermaid type boxes, like blue or camembert, they take up lots of space very quickly. Bigger is better, IMHO.

GotGoats

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Re: Which: small fridge or wine cooler?
« Reply #2 on: September 27, 2010, 02:23:57 PM »
Pam, is a fridge with a freezer inside a bad thing? I know the freezer part eats space, but the only way to go bigger is to have a freezer included, at least where I am looking.

Could I take the door off of the freezer and use that compartment, too?

This is really hard to wrap my mind around. *sigh* LOL

steampwr8

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Re: Which: small fridge or wine cooler?
« Reply #3 on: September 27, 2010, 03:18:10 PM »
Don't buy new. I have two small 8 bottle wind coolers and a large 30 bottle wine cooler that I purchase from sellers on Craig's list. I have spent a total of $150.00 on the three.

I have space to age about 100 pounds of cheese. Good place to start. the smaller ones keep temperature well and humidity can be increase with a bowl of water or like others have said, put your wheels in a tupperware bowl.

The larger one ranges has about a 5 degree window, but I think if it was full it would be stable. I have since bought a controller, but may not have been necessary at this time.

Most of the small refrigerators and 30 bottle wine coolers are the same technology. The difference is in the placement of the cooling coils.

mtncheesemaker

  • Guest
Re: Which: small fridge or wine cooler?
« Reply #4 on: September 27, 2010, 03:18:56 PM »
I am guessing that you could take the door off of the internal freezer and the temp would stay the same as the fridge part. You could monitor it with a thermometer up there.
There are discussions about "Johnson" control units somewhere that you can use the search tool to find. They are simple to use and give pretty good temp control.

GotGoats

  • Guest
Re: Which: small fridge or wine cooler?
« Reply #5 on: September 27, 2010, 07:20:25 PM »
Thanks, Pam. I hadn't thought to do a search for Johnson control info. I've been looking at them at cheesemaking.com, and assume with some kind of fridge I would need one.

Thanks for the info, steampwr8 ... but I'm in the sticks and our local Craigslist has 3 wine coolers total at like new prices. If I lived near a larger metropolis, I'd probably find them easier/cheaper. As it is, I have my own milk source, so I'm not too concerned about buying a cave. It will be the most expensive component for my cheese making.

:)

BethGi

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Re: Which: small fridge or wine cooler?
« Reply #6 on: September 27, 2010, 08:06:49 PM »
I went through the same thing not long ago -- didn't want to spend too much money as a new cheesemaker but wanted something workable. I first borrowed a small undercounter/dorm-style refrigerator from a friend. I bought a cheap plug-in control like one uses to turn on/off lights when away. It could be programmed with on/off cycles for about 12 times in 24 hours.  I removed the connection to the freezer (or the part of it that one could) and the door. But I still had terrible problems with the freezer 'sweating' and the freezer box also took a lot of usable space away.

So after some research I found that I could order a refrigerator-only unit (I got Danby's DAR440) for delivery to Walmart. It was about $160 I think, but seems to work really well and has LOTS of space in it. Smaller items can go on the interior doors, and the shelf depth is great for my larger diameter (7") wheels. With the on-off cycling, the temp seems to stay within about a 5degree range. Not perfect, but much better than before.

So though the Craig's list/used wine cooler may be optimal,  if you can't find any, I suggest NOT buying a unit with a freezer and order a 'ship-to-store' all-refrigeration unit for about the same cost.

GotGoats

  • Guest
Re: Which: small fridge or wine cooler?
« Reply #7 on: September 27, 2010, 09:23:09 PM »
THANK YOU, BethGi!!! :)