Cheese dryer build..

[dougspcs]

So I've been enjoying my new hobby..but as is my style I want to find a way to make it my own.

I had a bit of a problem with leaving the freshly pressed cheese on a drying mat in on the kitchen counter for 3-5 days to dry..especially lately with the fall rains playing hell with the humidity levels and the cheese taking forever to dry to touch. All that time exposed to allow contaminants to ruin my hard work..a big problem for me.

So in usual fashion for me I decided to build something..for about $50 I bought a sealable tote bin from Walmart, a micron filter that would fit a household air purifier, and some other misc parts.

Then mounted the a PC cooling fan to pull air from the tote and cut a hole in the other side to mount the micron filter to filter the incoming.

A pretty simple little build that I can lay my fresh cheese out in and have the fan force air thru to dry it..the micron filter stops the dust, mould spores, animal hair and flying insects!!

A couple days in here and it should have a good start and be ready for the new cave I just bought!!!!

[awakephd]

That should definitely dry the cheese while minimizing contamination. You'll have to see if it dries the cheese too quickly. An alternative is to let the cheese dry in the cave, rather than on the counter / room temperature.

[dougspcs]

That should definitely dry the cheese while minimizing contamination. You'll have to see if it dries the cheese too quickly. An alternative is to let the cheese dry in the cave, rather than on the counter / room temperature.

I'll be installing a reostat to allow for fan speed control..this should allow me good control over the speed at which it dries.

But does it really matter how quickly? Since I'm just going til it's touch dry then it's into the cave..is it a problem if I get it there overnight instead of 3-5days??

[awakephd]

Potentially, yes - because it will be drying from the outside in. If the outside dries too quickly, it will crack. You want it to dry "together" so that the rind stays intact.

[Gregore]

I think it is quite common for commercial cheese makers to use air movement as a way to dry the surface of cheese . 

I think you should be fine using it till the surface moisture is gone , beyond that and you will have to be more careful.

[dougspcs]

I think it is quite common for commercial cheese makers to use air movement as a way to dry the surface of cheese . 

I think you should be fine using it till the surface moisture is gone , beyond that and you will have to be more careful.

That isn't intent..I bought some small plastic totes today.

A hole in each end and the cheese inside on a mat..then into the new cave I just bought for the long sit!!

I'll be mindful of the cracks Andy..no worries!

[awakephd]

Let us know how it goes! If it does crack, there are ways to deal with that ...

[Col68]

Hello Dougspcs, what a beautiful idea brilliant and realization clean, I advise you put a bit of water at the bottom to increase the humidity through ventilation,

you gave me a nice idea, there are minis digital thermostat (W1209) controlled a fan 12v and even a lamp in 220v max 5 amperes to manage the temperature in the box,

it would be really good to be able to control digital with mini thermostat,
it costs 2 or 3 dollars and works very well, thanks for sharing, a cheese for this work and for having thought of us!

Good continuation.