Well I'm here..Finallly! :^)

[chilipepper]

I found the forum about a week ago and have been trying to read it all!    I'm located in North Dakota and am just getting started on stocking the cave!   I started off with some mozzarella just for proof of concept to my wife.  She must have bought the idea because I receive a goody box of supplies for my b-day in November. 

Since then I have a farmhouse cheddar, Monterrey Jack and just pulled a Manchego out of the brine this morning.  All these were made with local store bought whole milk as I unfortunately do not have a source for 'real' milk.  I currently am using my root cellar as my cave and hopefully I can successfully use and maintain the temps in there for proper aging.  Right now with the cold weather moving through here I'm down around 47 degrees.  My humidity is low in the 40% range but if I use containers to age in I hope to handle that with some moist paper towels.

Anyway, I just wanted to check in and introduce myself and will hopefully be lingering here for some time!  I'll try and post some pictures too. 

Ryan

[Tea]

Good morning Chilipepper and welcome to the forum.  Would love to see some pics, and it seems like you are off to a flying start. 
Hope you can get to imput regularly.

[chilipepper]

Tea, Thanks for the welcome!  Here are some pictures of the 'cave' with all its assorted fun stuff! :^)   I'm also an avid homebrewer so there is some barleywine in the secondary fermenter there and a keg of IPA in the background. 

There are tubs of green coffee there too.  I started roasting coffee about 2 years ago and that was one of the easiest and most rewarding endeavors that I get to enjoy every morning!

As for the cheese the 2 smaller wheels are the cheddar the other waxed one, the Jack and the one on the right, the manchego.  I need to get the humidity up so she doesn't crack on me.  I also could use a new mold or 2 for some variety! :^)

Then my batch sauerkraut from this fall! Sampled the first jar last night with some venison sausage my son and I smoked last weekend!  It is just a great time of year even if the ourdoor temps here today are supposed to get to a high of -10 degrees F.  :^)

[Tea]

There are a number of us on here that make wine/beer and a couple that make mead, so it also seems to be almost a prerequisite to making cheese.  The coffee I would love to have a go at doing, just never had the opportunity.  The sauerkraut I will leave to you.  My mother made a batch some years ago, and it was horrible, and sausage making and smoking is something that I am just getting myself involved in.  Have made several batches of sausages, just haven't smoked any yet.

As a word or caution, I really do think you need to get the cheeses into a more humid environment, as they will crack and dry unevenly in such dry conditions.

Anyway, love the photos, keep them coming.

[Cheese Head]

Chilipepper welcome to the forum! Nice set up and cheeses look great too.

Tea, the waxed ones shouldn't crack should they? But anything un sealed in that low a humidity will dry and crack from differential cracking.

[Tea]

The unwaxed ones definately will, but it shouldn't effect the waxed ones too much.

[wharris]

Welcome to the group Chilipepper.

I noticed a carboy in one of your pictures.  I too make wine.

What are you fermenting?

[chilipepper]

Thanks again for the welcomes!

Wayne that is a batch of barleywine that I brewed with a friend earlier this fall. It is basically a single malt beer that has a very high original specific gravity (1.120).  Then it is fermented down to about 1.020 and thus giving it the 'wine' classification as it would be very close to 14% ABV.  Quite high for a beer! :^)

I've tried my hand at the wine thing a quite a few times but I can never really get something I'm fond of.  Beer on the other hand seems to be more my niche!

What kind of wines do you typically make?

[wharris]

I have a bias towards the big reds.

Cabernet Sauvignon
Syrah
Zin