I've got an upright freezer that has been replaced by a chest freezer and have been thinking about getting a thermostatic controller to use this upright as a cheese cave. I've been reading the threads about the issue related to using upright freezers with coils integrated in the shelves (which mine has). Mostly I see that moisture drips down from these coils.
As I am now vacuum sealing all of my cheeses, would I be okay with using this freezer?
I appreciate any feedback y'all might give me. (Yes, I say "y'all", even though I am Minnesota born and bred and currently make Wisconsin my home!)
You said that with a perfect Alabama accent! ;) I used a freezer this way and sealed my cheeses with no problem until I recently got a defrosting kind.
Well, this one isn't a defrosting model, so maybe it will work out just fine then. Thanks!
MrsKK - You're not allowed to say "y'all" unless you've had shrimp grits or cheese grits within the last 30 days.
Hmmm... Stilton Grits. Now THAT's a blending of "cultures". >:D
Quotecheese grits
This is the most common use for our cheese.
I once had some blue cheese polenta (Italian grits ;)) that was awesome.
I am currently using one of these freezers (with the cooling shelves) and its fine. I am not thrilled about all the dripping on the bags, but whatever. A blue or other non-sealed cheese would do fine if it had its own containment. I usually put blues on the lid of a circular 12qt Cambro and then place the container on top. Takes a lot of space, but for only a few blues it is fine.
Hey ya'll;
How about reblochon or tomme grits? They're good! (I tell DH it's polenta.)
Pam (Originally from SC)
Thanks for the feedback, Nitai. I'm really interested to see how this will work. as I've been keeping my cheeses in a cabinet during the cold months, but they have to be in the fridge during the summer/6 months of the year. Not ideal at all.
Quote from: Nitai on August 23, 2010, 06:21:37 AM
I am currently using one of these freezers (with the cooling shelves) and its fine. I am not thrilled about all the dripping on the bags, but whatever.
It was that dripping, or the constant condensation from the cooling coils, that keept my humidity pegged at 100% and made me finally throw in the towel on my upright freezer. I really wanted that to work, but in the end, i decided that I needed to control both the temperature and the Humidity.
I did the baggie thing too, but that became too much of a hassle for me.
My humidity still stays around 70% (at least according to my $7 hygrometer).
Wow, that's great, but also that's hard to understand.
The dripping condensation would indicated complete saturation.
it seems like it does not drip at all times. But I also check it quite infrequently. Maybe its just the 30% innacuracy of a $7 hygrometer...