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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => EQUIPMENT - Aging Cheese, Caves => Topic started by: MolBasser on February 25, 2012, 03:21:44 AM
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So my buddy had a 6 bottle wine cooler that he wasn't using and he heard I was shopping for one for a cheese cave and he gave me a great deal on it.
Cleaning it up a bit and will post pictures of the install.
MolBasser
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Great score! Enjoy.
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That's cool. Temperature control is one of the first steps toward great cheese. Make sure to test with a thermometer to determine what the temperature gradient is.
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Hey Neighbor, buddy deals are the best!
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Seems to be running about 4 degrees low, but I need to verify my thermometer.
Getting an ice bath and boiling pot of water to check.....
MolBasser
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That's cool. Temperature control is one of the first steps toward great cheese. Make sure to test with a thermometer to determine what the temperature gradient is.
Hmmm... Hadn't thought of that. Guess once I verify my thermometer I need to move it around a bit in the fridge....
This is one thing that I preach to homebrewers. Fermentation temperature is critical. Far too many homebrewers spend a fortune on brewhouse, and then just ferment in a bucket in the corner.... FAIL. When I talk to homebrewers I always emphasize spending on cellar before brewhouse.
MolBasser
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Cheese making is a lot like homebrewwing just a bit more critical. If you exel at brewing your sanitiation, hygrometer and temperature techniques will be helpful. You also don't have to figure out what to do with the spent grains just the whey - which is easier than brewing.
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Yeah, I'm digging the complexity of cheese.
Unfortunately, I'm at the level of Mr. Beer right now..... :)
I'll learn and progress. Just like I did in brewing.
MolBasser
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Well I am assuming by Mr Beeer you mean extract brewing.
I often use the Mr. Beer kegs for testing or making smaller batches. I inherit all that people don't use anymore. I have 8 now I think maybe 10. It's just a small fermeting container and they fit in copy paper boxes for storing. I can brew serveral different brews at once with them. I also have 11, 3 gallon corney kegs. So they can be very handy little buggers! My V-vessel is 6 gallons but I don't always want 6 gallons of one thing. One Christmas I did 11 different fruited Wheats and a few Scotish ales for Christmas baskets all fermented in Mr. Beer Kegs and all were all grain brews. ;)
But I know what you are saying!
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Well I am assuming by Mr Beeer you mean extract brewing.
I often use the Mr. Beer kegs for testing or making smaller batches. I inherit all that people don't use anymore. I have 8 now I think maybe 10. It's just a small fermeting container and they fit in copy paper boxes for storing. I can brew serveral different brews at once with them. I also have 11, 3 gallon corney kegs. So they can be very handy little buggers! My V-vessel is 6 gallons but I don't always want 6 gallons of one thing. One Christmas I did 11 different fruited Wheats and a few Scotish ales for Christmas baskets all fermented in Mr. Beer Kegs and all were all grain brews. ;)
But I know what you are saying!
Wow, I've been wanting a 3 gallon keg for a long time, but those things are EXPENSIVE!!! I agree about the Mr. Beer barrels for fermenting small batches in though. I'm a big fan too.
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I would be very interested to hear about people brewing decent beer in the Mr. Beer.
Seems counterintuitive, but stranger things have happened.
MolBasser
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And to defend the honor of my craft, I would say that beer making is easily as complex as cheese making.
At least we aren't the losers who just crush grapes and pray.....
:)
MolBasser
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Cheese and beer both have their sciences as does wine. No need to be defensive. They are all crafts which require a certain amount of experiance and practice to be perfected. That being said ...
Once the mashing is done and the wort is brewed it needs all needs to be fermented in something. The Mr beer keg is just another vessel like a bucket or carboy or even my V-vessel (which I love BTW) just sideways - sort of. It's brown color also restricts light and as I mentioned they fit nicely into a copy paper carton. They are very easy to clean, easy to pour leaving off trub in a carefully designed footpad and light weight. They work great for small batches and take up almost no room. Now if you were wanting to make large batch they would not be very useful but many people myself included often only want to make small batches or several different styles or experimental batches and they are perfect for that. I will say that I think their "Extracts" are ... less than desireable (or at least they were 10 years ago, they may have improved) but the little kegs are pretty neat. The bucket used to fermente the brew matters very little - it's the process of making wort and bottling or kegging that make the beer.
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there is more to making wine than smashing grapes?
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LOL Wayne you are funny! You have the most high tech grape squisher I have ever seen and no purple toes either!
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Pretty sure there's a little wine drinking involved when making wine, too. If not, then I've been doing it wrong. And if I have been, I don't want to be right :)
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Gotta try that after I retire! And i know right where to go for advice! ;)
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Ha, my husband brews, I make cheese, we enjoy each others fruits!
I have some good local friends who make wine. I think it is far harder to make great wine than great beer at home...
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Hopefully I will find that out soon. I won't say I made GREAT beer but I made some excelent ones in my day. Not sure I have ever had a beer or a wine I'd call great - now salami - that's another story! we all have our passions!
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Charcuterie. A true Passion. We almost got caught smuggling 2 whole para hams and salamis (oh, and a baby wheel of truffle pecorino) back from our honeymoon backpack in Italy :).
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Oh, such great people here, so many things that you do.
I do not make wine or beer, but we make some stronger drink here from plums, it is called palinca, and I make sausages and smoke-Debi-your site is so great- and over 15 recipes of sour pikels, and bread, and now, from this forum, cheese.
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Thanks you Corina. I have not done much updating on the website in many years I found I was just duplication the same information on my forum and wasting server space. The webiste is just a tease! The real stuff in on the forum.
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Pretty sure there's a little wine drinking involved when making wine, too. If not, then I've been doing it wrong. And if I have been, I don't want to be right :)
Pretty sure there is beer drinking when making beer at my place. If I am completely truthful, there might be some wine drinking involved with cheese making also ::)
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I think it is pretty safe to suggest that we are all DIY junkies here.
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Charcuterie. A true Passion. We almost got caught smuggling 2 whole para hams and salamis (oh, and a baby wheel of truffle pecorino) back from our honeymoon backpack in Italy :).
The first time I visited the usa, I came to see my expat boyfriend who was studying for a year in the usa. He was quite deprived from the french delicacies such kas cheese and salami so I took it upon myself to bring him some goodies. I had 2 luggages, one with clothes and the other one with 8 lbs of cured meat and as much cheese.
What I am proud of is that I did not lie to the custom guy. He only asked if I was carrying bananas. A)
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Charcuterie. A true Passion. We almost got caught smuggling 2 whole para hams and salamis (oh, and a baby wheel of truffle pecorino) back from our honeymoon backpack in Italy :).
The first time I visited the usa, I came to see my expat boyfriend who was studying for a year in the usa. He was quite deprived from the french delicacies such kas cheese and salami so I took it upon myself to bring him some goodies. I had 2 luggages, one with clothes and the other one with 8 lbs of cured meat and as much cheese.
What I am proud of is that I did not lie to the custom guy. He only asked if I was carrying bananas. A)
LOL! Love this.
I brought loads of cheese from France back to Englad with us too, but customs wasn't an issue there.
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LOL Banannas!
I love Kona coffee and whenever I had to go to Hawaii I would do the same. One case for clothes and another for coffee. Then I mail a box full home. SO cheap there compared to here!