Agh... which is worse??

[megdcl]

Hi all.. I'm having some problems now that the weather is warming up, our 'cold room' (normally between 45 and 55 degrees in the winter) is getting too warm for my waxed cheeses.. it's now reached about 62 and will probably climb from there. My alternative is the fridge, which is where I have the cheeses now and is just under 40.. which is worse? Our resources are limited; we're striving to make do with what we've got.. is this going to ruin the cheese because it's too cool?

[linuxboy]

Warm is worse, unless you want to eat your cheese soon. Warm = fast, unpredictable flavor development, greater likelihood of off flavors. Cold = slow flavor development, takes longer to mature, but less change of off flavors.

[megdcl]

Warm is worse, unless you want to eat your cheese soon. Warm = fast, unpredictable flavor development, greater likelihood of off flavors. Cold = slow flavor development, takes longer to mature, but less change of off flavors.

Thanks.. this helps!!

[megdcl]

Another thought, should I put a glass of water in the fridge to help the humidity? I've seen other people do that.. wouldn't think there would be much humidity in a closed fridge. What happens if the cheese doesn't have enough humidity? 

[rosawoodsii]

Another thought, should I put a glass of water in the fridge to help the humidity? I've seen other people do that.. wouldn't think there would be much humidity in a closed fridge. What happens if the cheese doesn't have enough humidity?

That's always been a concern of mine, too.  I think the cheese would dry out too quickly.  Anyone know if water would help?

[arkc]

You said they are waxed cheeses.  They won't need the moisture, they have their own environment
inside the wax.  If they're waxed, they're probably hard, long aging cheeses, yes?  They will
age just fine (more slowly) in the frig, but fine. Mine have always lived the greater part of their
life (last part) in the frig.  Just takes longer.

I will open one of my 18 month Cheddars in the next day or two.  I'll put a photo here.

annie

[Tomer1]

I moved my waxed cheese to the fridge,
Put them on the lower part of the door since its warmest spot in the fridge (Mine is 8-10c) so it keeps on aging.
My lard-bees wax begon to crack for no apparent reason,
After rewaxing I tried the cooler fridge and it did the trick.

[rosawoodsii]

I'm making an Arina, which is supposed togo into the refrigerator to cure.  It's not going to be waxed unless I let it get past 25 days.  Will I need more moisture?

[arkc]

I hope someone out there can answer your question.  I've never made anygoat cheese!!!

annie

[rosawoodsii]

I hope someone out there can answer your question.  I've never made anygoat cheese!!!

annie

Arina is a goat milk gouda.  When all you have is goats, that's what kind of milk you use.

[linuxboy]

What do you mean by more moisture? Do you mean higher humidity?

Any time you're aging without a protective barrier like wax or plastic, or PVA paint, you're losing moisture from the cheese into the air. That's why we increase humidity, to slow down the rate of loss.

If you're conditioning before waxing, you can keep humidity lower than normal, down to 70%

[rosawoodsii]

Yes, higher humidity.  Refrigerators are pretty low in humidity, and the Arina will be aged there. flipped daily, for 25 days.

[linuxboy]

likely your rind will crack and you will get mold on the rind in that environment. You need to age it in an aging box, or wax or vac pac.