A peek inside my cheese cave

[WhiteSageFarms]

Top shelf: Left side is Deejay Debi's Havarti recipe with saffron threads, Right side Deejay Debi's Havarti with fennel pollen.
(thanks for posting your recipe, Debi!)

Middle shelf: 2 Goudas. One I used Likespace's recipe from 12-09 (thanks for posting it, Likespace!) and the other I used
Ricki C's and 200 Recipes.

Bottom shelf- A French Tomme made with my goat's milk. I aged it for a couple of months with a natural rind, then it seemed to be drying out so I bagged it.

In the second photo, the cave on left had been filled with the different goat's milk Crottin's I made, but my brother came to visit and now they're gone :-)

[MrsKK]

Very nice!  Looks like your cheesecave is  central to your house.

[Boofer]

Nice little peek. I rather like the visibility of the one on the right.

I hope Santa brings me a new cave this Christmas. The one I have now is just about topped off.

-Boofer-

[GDKNZ]

May I ask what the make and models are of you two caves please. I am looking at getting something similar but struggling to settle on a make. Are the specific cheese caves or are they re-purposed wine fridges?

Grant.

[Brie]

Looks great! Congrats! Deb is surely the queen!

[DeejayDebi]

Great looking cheeses and a nice caves! I have a suggestion for you to increase your cave space. You can remove the wire racks and make shorter shelves using the small 1 inch PVC pipes and T's or wooden dowels and effectively double your cave space. The wood is more expensive and labor intensive but very pretty.

Thanks for the compliments!

[Brie]

Deb--did you actually create a recipe for the Havarti with my additions of fennel pollen and Saffron? I am truly honored if you did--if not, let me just add the following addendums:
Both fennel pollen and saffron are very strong additives that grow stronger in aging--be very non-aggresive as they will be too strong at 3 months to enjoy as a table cheese. I have used both in making arancini (risotto with a wedge of either cheese in the middle--coated with panko and deep-fried). Glorious!
Whitesage--I see you have goats! Since you already have the fennel pollen--mix it with some lavender and make a great soft chevre (be careful, as I got the idea from Cypress Grove (Purple Haze) and they may have a patent.)

[WhiteSageFarms]

I got them both from ads on Craigslist... one is a Vinotemp and one is an Avanti. I'm not sure the model numbers but next time I move the table they're on, I'll take a peek at the info on the back. They're re-purposed wine fridges, although they both have several bottles of Idaho wine in them as I'm typing this... :-) They're both working like charms so far, I've had the Vinotemp almost a year, and it had been used when I bought it. The Avanti is used as well, and I've had it a few months. So far so good.
I'm going to be looking for more, soon :-)

Laurie

May I ask what the make and models are of you two caves please. I am looking at getting something similar but struggling to settle on a make. Are the specific cheese caves or are they re-purposed wine fridges?

Grant.

[WhiteSageFarms]

Thanks, Brie! Yes, Deb IS the queen! She rocks the cheesemaking!

Looks great! Congrats! Deb is surely the queen!

[WhiteSageFarms]

Thanks, Debi! I'm not good at visualizing the shelves you're talking about... do you have any photos? I'm all for wood shelves/racks etc. Thanks again for all your helpful posts... My 93 year old mom is Danish, & she adores Havarti, so I've been buying it for her weekly. When I saw your recipes, a light bulb went off. I'm going to cut the fennel wheel this week. I'm hoping it's edible. I have daydream nightmares about it tasting horrid LOL.

~Laurie

Great looking cheeses and a nice caves! I have a suggestion for you to increase your cave space. You can remove the wire racks and make shorter shelves using the small 1 inch PVC pipes and T's or wooden dowels and effectively double your cave space. The wood is more expensive and labor intensive but very pretty.

Thanks for the compliments!

[WhiteSageFarms]

Yes, I have goats, just 4 dairy does. I only had one that was in milk this past season, this spring I'll have more. I will try the fennel pollen & lavender. Good to know about the pollen and saffron growing stronger in aging. I'll find out if I added too much within the week. 

Laurie

Deb--did you actually create a recipe for the Havarti with my additions of fennel pollen and Saffron? I am truly honored if you did--if not, let me just add the following addendums:
Both fennel pollen and saffron are very strong additives that grow stronger in aging--be very non-aggresive as they will be too strong at 3 months to enjoy as a table cheese. I have used both in making arancini (risotto with a wedge of either cheese in the middle--coated with panko and deep-fried). Glorious!
Whitesage--I see you have goats! Since you already have the fennel pollen--mix it with some lavender and make a great soft chevre (be careful, as I got the idea from Cypress Grove (Purple Haze) and they may have a patent.)

[WhiteSageFarms]

The cooler on the left has a clear glass front too, it was just the lighting that made it look that way (crummy photography LOL). The one on the right is prettier though, for sure.
I hope Santa brings you your cave...

Laurie

Nice little peek. I rather like the visibility of the one on the right.

I hope Santa brings me a new cave this Christmas. The one I have now is just about topped off.

-Boofer-