Temp control AND humidity?

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Grimsawyer

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Am I going to want to get a fridge to cure/ripen/etc... cheese or am I going to want to temperature controll a big humidifier? Would it be easier to humidify a fridge? Seems like bad stuff would grow on the inside of a humid fridge. Maybe put the cheese in a humidifier inside a temp controlled fridge? :D Of course I look stuff up and other than mozzerella I want to do all the stinky or creamy cheeses that need a cooler temp and high humidity. Anyone got ideas? What do you do for your brie or gorgonzola?
 
Grimsawyer said:
Am I going to want to get a fridge to cure/ripen/etc... cheese or am I going to want to temperature controll a big humidifier? Would it be easier to humidify a fridge? Seems like bad stuff would grow on the inside of a humid fridge. Maybe put the cheese in a humidifier inside a temp controlled fridge? :D Of course I look stuff up and other than mozzerella I want to do all the stinky or creamy cheeses that need a cooler temp and high humidity. Anyone got ideas? What do you do for your brie or gorgonzola?
Click to expand...

I bought a themostat overide for 50 bucks and it did the trick for my old freezer. Temp is at 50 degrees, and I don't need to do anything for humidity at all. Stays at 80-85% humidity. One reason is that because the coils freeze and then thaw -so the inside is humid.

I would try the fridge out without a humidifier first. take a reading, if not humid enough put a bowl of water in there.
 
I have seen pics of people using Tupperware with water in it and a elevated base for the cheese to stay on. This way it would be as high a humidity as you want.

But I say try the fridge with temp control first and see if you need to do anything.
 
Yeah this is the biggest hurdle for most home cheese and dry cured meat makers. Humidity. Suffice it to say, you most likely will not be able to achieve exact humidity control without an expensive setup. You can get close, which for most purposes is just fine.
 
I use a large rubbermaid container with water in my wine cooler. I bought a hygrometer for $20 from the www.theweatherstore.com and it works fine. It has temp and humidity readings on it. Then you just adjust the lid on the container. More open for less humidity or more closed for more humidity. Other than the feta, I have only made the hard cheeses.
 
For a cooler I used as a cigar humidor for awhile, I used florist foam, distilled water, and Propylene Glycol. It's designed to hit around 70%, not sure if that range will work. Details about how this works are shown here: PG

Might or might not be useful.

Rick
 

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