In my cheese cave (a converted wine cooler) I recently replaced the wire racks with pine boards. Before putting the pine boards in the cave I dissolved starter culture in water and inoculated the boards by painting them with this culture solution. I have my cheeses sitting on sushi mats that are placed under the cheeses on the boards. My question is, are the sushi mats necessary? I've heard they can get a bit gnarly and moldy in between the slats, but I've also heard that they help with airflow under the cheese. Can I just place the cheese directly on the boards for aging and still get adequate airflow (assuming that I am turning the cheeses regularly)?
Growing up, we aged directly on boards in the root cellar - no mats of any kind - but I did put small dowels under the cheese for the first few days they were drying.
Hi there, also a cheese head here.
I would be inclined to use the sushi mats for the first week while there might be any whey draining from the cheese. Also if you are growing a white mold, keep the sushi mats so it is easier to 'unstick' them from the surface they are resting on for daily turning.
It is easy to wash a sushi mat even with stuff stuck between the slats. Soak in warm water, both sides, then use a vegetable brush, and brush the mats vertically and horizontally, both sides, rinse and repeat if necessary. Then I let them air dry. When making cheese, during the time I'm boiling utensils, I also boil the sushi mats and cheese cloth.
If you have pine boards, you can rest the cheese on them directly, when the cheese is dry enough. I have both wire racks and pine racks in my cheese cave fridge.
Excellent, thanks for the responses!