Author Topic: Aging - Temperature Variation Range  (Read 1926 times)

ScottC

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Aging - Temperature Variation Range
« on: December 19, 2010, 03:02:02 AM »
Hi All,

I'm about to embark on my first cheese making experiment.

So far, I have made an external temperature controller from one of the typical temperature controllers available from eBay, similar to this:

I've connected the controller to a small bar fridge which is cooled by a small square freezer compartment in the top corner.

The cooling is achieved simply by switching on the fridge (a small bar fridge) and I have no heating ('heating'=switching off the fridge).

I've set the temperature controller to 10ºC, and set the controller to switch the fridge at a deviation of +1ºC or -1ºC. The controller will switch the fridge on and the temp drops to the required limit, then the controller switches it off (as expected).

The problem is that the temperature changes very slowly... Of course, I'm not expecting the temperature to stay within 1ºC of the set temp, but I notice that the fridge temperature responds more slowly than I expected. After cooling and switching off, the temperature continues to drop (from the still-cold freezer) to around 6ºC. When the temperature rises again to 10.5ºC, the fridge is switched on, but it takes a long time to cool and the temperature sometimes rises to around 15ºC before dropping again.

I guess the average temperature over time is probably OK, but is it acceptable to have these temp swings?

Aside from whether this is OK for cheese maturing... I'm not sure if this is normal behaviour for a fridge! I've never really needed to monitor fridge temps before. Maybe it's time for a new fridge (it is fairly old)?

Cheers,

Scott.