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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => EQUIPMENT - Aging Cheese, Caves => Topic started by: thebelgianpanda on April 01, 2009, 09:22:59 PM
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I have a small wine fridge that works great for my indoor storage, but the project I'm really excited about is the 'cellar' I built in just a couple hours. Basically, I sunk a 45 gallon plastic trash can in the ground with styrofoam insulation and a very small tarp on the top. I've been monitoring the humidity and temperature this last week with a wireless device I picked up at home depot, and it's staying below 90% humidity and the temperature is 48F with several unsealed cheeses in it. It's a tad cold, but it takes no electricity and the biggest temperature swing so far has been 2F (46-48F).
If anyone wants pictures I can go out and snap a few.
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Yes pics please, what do you mean by 'in the ground'? Make sure critters don't get in it.
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I was thinking critters too.
I have raccoons in Cleveland that are crafty little devils. I see the bother they go through to get a left over chicken-wing bone out of my garbage. I could only imagine the persistance they would show if the prize was a stilton, or wheel of sharp cheddar.
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Here are some pics from my current cave setup
(http://www.awcart.com/images/cheese/cellar/IMG_1056.JPG)
(http://www.awcart.com/images/cheese/cellar/IMG_1061.JPG)
(http://www.awcart.com/images/cheese/cellar/IMG_1065.JPG)
(http://www.awcart.com/images/cheese/cellar/IMG_1063.JPG)
The device attached to the side of the wall is the wireless thermometer/hygrometer, so I don't have to go out in the rain to check on it. I suspect I will need to construct a vent here soon, since the book I have on root cellaring makes it pretty clear they are essential.
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Well, the first thing that comes to mind is that quote from a movie: "It puts the lotion on the skin or else it gets the hose again" what was the name of that..... oh well i forget.
Secondly it looks like a lot of work went into sinking that. I am interested in how it comes out from a critter, water, safety perspective.
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Wasn't as bad as you'd think, the soil there is just loam and clay, no rocks. And I only had one root to deal with, so it took about 40 minutes total. I'm still lookin' out for critters, but raccoons haven't been a problem due to our dog (she got into an altercation with a giant raccoon two weeks ago and literally ripped it's face off, it was scary to say the least). It's rained almost constantly since I installed it and there isn't a drop inside. I'm mostly worried about smaller animals/insects, but only time will tell.
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You might want to put some self-stick weather stripping along the inside of the lid to form a tighter seal.
But that brings up a question.
Does a cave need fresh air? don't know.
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I honestly don't know, but skimming through 'Root Cellaring' by Mike and Nancy Bubel, they talk about gases that vegetables emit that encourage either ripening or spoilage (adding a few apples which emit ethylene to ripen green tomatoes, for instance), but I can't find any reference to cheese needing fresh air. There is a paragraph on storing cheese in the book, but all it says is basically Your Mileage May Vary.
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Does look like a lot of work and thought went into but personally I wouldn't put my cheese in there. Unless it's air tight bugs will get in. And I don't mean a passive air tightness but a forced one like a frig.
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I'll post success/failure updates as they happen. I am concerned about bugs, but not so concerned that I won't at least try it.
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Given today's economy, that hole looks like where I have been investing lately.
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If it doesn't work out as a cheese cave, I'll just market it as an investment vehicle--safer than your 401K!