Humidity (and temperature) question

[CheeseyKnees]

Hi guys, n00bie here, forgive me if in the wrong place.

Humidity - are you aiming for maximum humidity in your caves, or a percentage of that?  Do all cheese require the same humidity?

How important is temperature when making your cheese?  What role does it play with humidity?

How long are the cheeses kept in the cave?  Does this vary between cheeses?

It'd be great to have a few of these queries answered, as I am at a bit of a loss right now.
Many thanks.

CK

[JeffHamm]

Hi CheeseyKnees,

There are a lot of threads and discussions on how to age your cheeses.  However, keeping in mind I'm fairly new at this too, here's a very quick and incomplete set of answers just to help you get started. 

1) Maximum humidity would be 100%, and that's too much.  The appropriate level depends upon the kind of cheese you are aging, and if you are trying to develope a rind, etc.  Usually you want it at least 80%, but for some cheeses (those with B.Linens for example) I think above 90% is recommended (again, this can be very specific to what you're trying to get to grow for your rind).

2) temperature when making the cheese is very important.  Too hot and you could kill the culture.  Also, as you raise the temperature the curds expell more whey, giving you a drier cheese (not good if you're making camembert, or targeting a moist cheese).  The cultures grow at different rates at different temperatures, which changes the acidity profile of the milk, which in turn will influence your final cheese.

3) How long you age your cheese is how long you age your cheese.  Some can be eaten quite young others are designed for long aging.  But think of cheddar, you can have it mild (young) or age it for many years.

You'll find all sorts of information here if you just poke aroudn and read through some discussions.  It's a great site.
- Jeff

[CheeseyKnees]

Cheers Jeff.

So, how are you controlling humidity and temperature successfully in unison?

I have read about ultrasonic humidifiers, and I know about thermostats for the heat... but how do these two parameters play off against each other?  Do they conflict, I suppose is my question.

I'm wondering how the balance, if that is what you seek, is desired.

I speak as someone who doesn't, in truth, know if one of them should have precedence over the other.  ie, is this relative to the product?  ie, Camembert requires x humidity and gorgonzola y temperature.

To what extent is this science and to what extent more subjective?

[JeffHamm]

When I refer to the temperature while making the cheese I mean when you're working with the milk, etc.  In this case, humidity is not really a part of it.  HOwever, once it is time to age the cheese, then both temperature and humidity are important.  And, the best temperature and humidity for aging the cheese is cheese dependent.

How to control both is tricky, and if you seach the forums on threads about cheese caves, etc, you'll find all sorts of advice.  If your humidity is too low, the cheese will start to crack, which is bad.  Too moist, and you'll have problems with mold.  Too cold, and it will slow down the aging process, etc.

I was using a chilly bin (cooler, cold box, people call them different things) where I would put jugs of ice in with the cheese morning and evening.  This kept the temperature around 10 C, and the moisture on the jugs kept the humidity sufficient that my cheeses didn't crack.  Now I have a wine cooler fridge, and this is trickier to keep the humidity up.  Easiest will be to put the cheeses in individual small plastic boxes, with a small glass of water, and monitor that.

These temp and humidity requiresments are about ensureing the cultures work properly, and there is a lot of biological processes going on in a cheese.  Not my expertise, but if you read  around a bit you'll find a number of experts here on the science of cheesemaking.
 - JEff

[Tomer1]

You can have good conditions for long temp aging of hard\semi hard cheeses ,uping the temp when if required to bloom moldy cheeses but instead rising the humidity of the entire fridge and softening
the rind of your natural rinded hard cheeses keep the level the same and have thos mold ripened cheeses in seperate plastic ripening box with a lid which will alow for higher humidy optimal for groth.
Once the growing stage is complete you can bring the temperature back down to age and keep them in the box perhaps with the lid slightly open to avoid "sweaty" cheeses.