Hi
I use a small fridge as a cheese cave. When I turn it on it shows humidity of around 55%. However, when I turn on a small usb fan inside the fridge it humidity goes up to around 65-75%.
So ... If my cheese needs around 70% humidity for aging is this enough or should I add some more humidity?
How are you currently dealing with humidity (pans of water/salt, etc)? I would be surprised if a fridge were to be 65%-75% humidity naturally. For me, though, the proof of the pudding is in the eating. How are the cheeses doing? Do they need more humidity? That's what I would mostly base my judgement on.
I right now have only one cheese in there (I am a beginner), a "Just Jack" which is bandaged with a cheese cloth.
Can it be that the cheese together with the fan blowing on the dripper in the small top freezer creates enough humidity?
My guess is that without the fan, all the humidity just stays at the bottom part of the fridge.
Cool! I'm afraid I can't give you any good advice as I don't have a fridge (and I use ripening boxes anyway). Hopefully some people will be able to help you.
Yatir, welcome to the forum!
I use a wine cooler, essentially a scaled-down refrigerator, and with cheeses in the cave, find that my humidity averages around 70% - so I'd say your numbers are correct. Ways to increase the humidity can range from a pan of water, a pan of over-saturated salt water (the salt is supposed to regulate the humidity - ? or something like that, but I've never tried it), a pan of water with a cheesecloth hanging so that it wicks the water up and lets it evaporate, or an active humidifier such as a small ultrasonic fogger. I don't know that anyone has found the magic solution that gives the desired humidity with trouble-free maintenance.
For myself, I tend to use a ripening box to control the "local" humidity for cheeses that need the high humidity, and vac-bag or otherwise protect cheeses that don't need to dry out any further. I'd say your bandaged cheese falls into that latter category.
Thank you so much. I will try those.