Hi from Auckland, New Zealand.

[Shazah]

I'm so happy to have found this forum.
I have been making cheese for a few years but have decided to take it more seriously now and have recently purchased a wine cellar to use as my cheese cave.  I have five beautiful looking Camemberts in there which are just starting to develop their white bloom.
Today I'm making a Farmhouse Blue and I was in here checking out the flocculation method.  I'm unsure now whether I should go with the 60 minute curd set time that I established with that method or the two hours the recipe states.  I think I'll take a chance on the flocculation method and let you know how it turns out.
The forum has been a great help to me already so thanks again.
I look forward to many happy cheese making discussions.

[anarch]

Welcome!  I'm in the same phase as you, just reading everything here and learning as much as I can . 

Jealous of your future cheese cave!

[Shazah]

Thanks anarch

I'm in the middle of washing my curds which is a new experience for me.

Now that I have one cooler for my cheeses, I want another one for my blue's.
Not sure that I can put forward a good enough case to get another one, yet... I will have to settle on a poly box and ice packs in the mean time.

Cheers

[anarch]

That's my cave setup right now, 3 ice chest/poly boxes in the basement (which already hovers in the high 50F range) then ice packs.  One for rind or waxing cheeses, one for white mold ripened, one for blues . 

Post pics of your cheese!

[zenith1]

welcome to the forum Shazah-I hope that you make it your daily stopping place!

[Shazah]

 My neighbor mentioned something to me yesterday that's so simple I can't understand why I didn't think of it myself.  He's a home brewer and said he fills a medium sized roasting pan (he has 2) with water and freezes it for a few days.  He freezes the other one to change out but said it takes about a week before he needs to change them over.  I'm going to give this a try but only with cheeses I've got in an airtight container.  At the moment I have to change the ice packs over every 12 hours or so.

I am really pleased with my cooler.  I read a few articles on some of them not being so reliable so I've put two other thermometers inside so I can check the temperatures and so far it's been pretty accurate.

I will post pics as soon as I work out what to do.

Thanks zenith1, I am already looking in here many times a day.  Somedays I feel like my whole life revolves around cheese making but I wouldn't want it any other way.

[Shadeydaze]

Hi there from me, I'm in NZ too (South Island just outside of Christchurch ). I'm another newbie here and also new to cheese making as well.....
I have been using ice cream containers full of water and freezing ...they sometimes make it to 24 hours...sometimes....I like the roasting pan idea as well 

[DeejayDebi]

Welcome Shazar! The ice chest works great you jst have to leave enough room in the freezer to freeze the ice and you have it! Good luck.