There doesn't seem to be a huge amount of information on this, but I'm reasonably certain that in the homes of Southern Italy, scamorza is traditionally hung just about anywhere.
Over the last couple years, I've been developing a scamorza recipe of my own, and, beyond the lesser expense of hanging scamorza in any open area, I'm finding that I much prefer the results of a lower humidity setting- the quicker I can get the exterior to dry/skin over, the better.
I am considering posting my recipe to my blog (with plenty of warnings), but, before I do, I wanted to check with you folks in regards to pathogens. Up until hanging, I'm being ultra clean and the milk I use is very fresh and clean. I've looked at all the potential pathogens, and my present reasoning is that the heat of the stretch should kill pretty much everything off, and the brine should keep most things away, and, once hung, the wet brine should hopefully buy me something until it evaporates- at which point the water activity should be so low, it will be very inhospitable.
I've been hanging it for 2 days, sometimes 3, and then I bag it and put it the fridge. In the fridge, the moisture in the middle will eventually migrate into the dry exterior, and, once that happens, I generally start seeing various colored growths popping up shortly thereafter. With a 2 day hang, the cheese will start to spoil after about 3 days in the fridge, and, with a 3 day hang, I've been able to get 2, sometimes even 3 weeks from it.
Now, I should mention, that I always cook this cheese before consuming it- aggressively- basically I fry it, so something undetectable like listeria should be killed off.
From what I can tell, Southern Italians have been making aged pasta filata cheeses this way for close to a thousand years. Considering the Romans used to line their wine containers with lead, the "this is how it used to be done" argument doesn't hold a lot of water. At the same time, though, applying some modern knowledge to this and
1. Keeping the cheese free from contamination until it's hung
2. Hanging it for a relatively short time
3. Inspecting and smelling the cheese carefully as it's being refrigerated
4. Always cooking it thoroughly
Between all these steps, this should be a relatively low risk endeavor, correct? Or am I missing something?
