thermocouple based cooler for "cheese cave"

[Owly055]

I decided to begin making cheese only 6 days ago.......... and I'm becoming increasingly excited at the possibilities! Toys (minimal) are on the way from New England Cheese Supply, to make feta, the lack of which at the local Costco (in decent quantities and price), got me interested in making my own. I use feta more than any other except of course cheddar, and the way I use cheddar it does not make sense to make it.
I love good ripened cammembert and a few years ago discovered cambizola, and both while not especially complex processes, require a good deal more equipment than what I've purchased for feta (basically only cheese muslin..... and cultures &c). I can swallow the $7 each for open bottom cheese molds, and related stuff, and the expensive cultures, but leaves me with the problem of aging and storing.

I have a 12volt cooler that came with a 120 volt adapter. I also have several STC 1000 controllers either laying about or doing specialized jobs such as controlling my malt kiln (a countertop convection oven adapted with a rotating screened drum, with customized controls). It strikes me that this cooler could easily be outfitted with an STC 1000 and would do the job...... I would of course switch the 120V, not the 12 volt supply due to the current being lower.
This cooler could sit out in the pump house, where the temps range from 45F to about 65F throughout the year. It wouldn't have much to do. Humidity is my biggest concern....... or actually lack of it, but I'm thinking that in a sealed container it would not vary much, and a damp cloth could keep it up, though the cloth might need to be heavily salted to prevent growth on it.

Any thoughts on this?

H.W.

 

[passedpawn]

Wine fridges make a great cheese cave. They are almost free at garage sales, craigslist, etc. Bowl of water will keep your humidity up.

Camembert is an easy cheese (I think). Just get it into the normal fridge right after the white mold forms or it will become a creamy ammonia mess.

 

[bernardsmith]

I use a dorm fridge as my cheese cave - and use an inkbird controller to keep the temperature at about 50- 55 F. If you wax or vacuum seal your cheeses humidity is not a problem and if you simply age the cheeses in plastic containers then again, humidity is not likely to be an issue.
For some cheeses you will need a cheese press but while these cost a mortgage to buy even if you are not particularly handy you can easily make a press for a few dollars. One simple design involves you buying a couple of wooden (kitchen) cutting boards and drilling 4 holes in them - one at each corner. Through those holes you slip a long threaded bolt (long enough to handle your forms with something (a can?) to press down on the follower) and fix the bolts to the bottom board with nuts and washers. You can then place the cheese forms on the bottom board and use the top board to support the weights. One gallon of water weighs 8 lbs, a paving brick weighs about 20 lbs...

 

[passedpawn]

Cheese Presses: I have used 3 different presses. The best one, which is the only one I still have, was made by a guy who retired from that occupation. But he made his plans available for all. Highly recommended. See attached PDF

 

[bernardsmith]

But you do need to be quite handy to make a press like that. My press takes all of about 10 minutes to make and costs about $10.00

 

[passedpawn]

But you do need to be quite handy to make a press like that. My press takes all of about 10 minutes to make and costs about $10.00

Fair enough. Your press would work fine. I did that similar thing for my first cheeses.

I bought this press for $99. I also got a smaller press that he made for $79 (gave that one to brother). Point is, they aren't really that expensive if you can find one. I'll probably make my next one from those plans though.

 

[Owly055]

Fair enough. Your press would work fine. I did that similar thing for my first cheeses.

I bought this press for $99. I also got a smaller press that he made for $79 (gave that one to brother). Point is, they aren't really that expensive if you can find one. I'll probably make my next one from those plans though.

I don't know how this got to cheese presses???? A press is really not on my horizon at the moment............. That said, I'm almost as excited about cheese making as I was about brewing when I took it up again after nearly 50 years. I love microbes, and all the wonderful things you can do with them. Some folks seem to fear "germs", I embrace them ;-) .............. well some at least.

H.W.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

FWIW, when or if you get to needing a press, I'd like to corroborate my experience with the Sturdy Press as well. I had 3 presses, 2 of which I made myself and the Sturdy Press. I used the Sturdy Press in making tommes and it was a beautiful little unit. Shame he stopped producing but as Passed says, and shows, the plans are available.

Congratulations on diving in. It's a wonderful food, and a wonderful hobby.

 

[bernardsmith]

I don't know how this got to cheese presses???? A press is really not on my horizon at the moment.............

You talked about aging cheese in a cave. Most (certainly not all) cheeses that are aged need to have more of the curds removed and the only way to do that is with pressure. Fresh cheeses are technically not aged and often need to be eaten within a couple of weeks... That said, I make a curd cheese almost every week and although I don't use my press for that I do use about 8lbs of weight and cheddar the cheese to remove the moisture

 

[passedpawn]

You talked about aging cheese in a cave. Most (certainly not all) cheeses that are aged need to have more of the curds removed and the only way to do that is with pressure. Fresh cheeses are technically not aged and often need to be eaten within a couple of weeks... That said, I make a curd cheese almost every week and although I don't use my press for that I do use about 8lbs of weight and cheddar the cheese to remove the moisture

Whey.

He mentioned wanting to make Camembert and Cambozola. Neither require a press. They are soft cheeses. They do need to be turned every day or two to ensure they form properly as the whey drips off them.

 

[passedpawn]

I don't know how this got to cheese presses???? A press is really not on my horizon at the moment............. That said, I'm almost as excited about cheese making as I was about brewing when I took it up again after nearly 50 years. I love microbes, and all the wonderful things you can do with them. Some folks seem to fear "germs", I embrace them ;-) .............. well some at least.

H.W.

You might want to temper your excitement. In my experience, cheesemaking is a little trickier than brewing. For example, I have failed almost everytime I made mozzerella, supposedly a beginners cheese. I won't even try again, it p'sses me off so much now.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

I made reblochon, a soft cheese, and it got some aging though admittedly it was moderately pressed. It's all relative - there are soft, unpressed, soft lightly pressed, that get some aging because that's the only way they develop their p. candidum, g. candidum, b. linens, etc. rind flora.

Personally, I say, make the cheese you like, learn from it, and try again. For me, I began with tomme. Pressed under it's own weight, originally, good techniques to learn in temp control and syneresis (whey expulsion), and aging.

 

[bernardsmith]

Whey.

Arghhhh Thanks . I meant whey, not curds.

 

[bernardsmith]

You might want to temper your excitement. In my experience, cheesemaking is a little trickier than brewing. For example, I have failed almost everytime I made mozzerella, supposedly a beginners cheese. I won't even try again, it p'sses me off so much now.

But the idea that mozzarella is a beginner's cheese is a cruel joke. You have to hit the pH just right for the cheese to stretch and you have to hit the temperature just right for the cheese not to be grainy. I take my hat off to anyone who can make mozarella consistently well (using cultures and not citric acid). When a beginner makes a mozarella that's like a hole in one. The next hole might be 10 over par...

 

[Gadjobrinus]

FWIW, a couple of resources I think are worthwhile:

Peter Dixon's Farmstead Cheesemaking Collection. A binder and not a bound book, still it's full of practical information. He also has many recipes freely available, including two for mozzarella, on his website. (Note: .PDFs):

Direct Acidified
Cultured

I'm not a pasta filata maker so I can't speak to these recipes but from what I've seen elsewhere the technique is solid. His tomme gave me my starting point for exploring this rustic style. Be curious what any of you who've made mozzarella think.

The other is Gianaclis Caldwell. Great lady, and I've enjoyed many of her books.

 

[bernardsmith]

I think Caldwell's books and her approach are excellent.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

I think Caldwell's books and her approach are excellent.

Total agreement. Great woman, too. We spoke when she was writing Artisan Cheesemaking as she was seeking the opinions of some makers from various styles, and my focus is in the hard alpine cheeses (though I love and made reblochon) (focus on Abondance, tomme with different morge/rind styles, reblochon). At the time I was planning for my own alpine creamery, and she was very kind to give me some brutally kind truth based on the physical and medical issues I faced then and will face for the rest of my life. I admire her greatly not only as a cheesemaker and smallhold dairy person, but as a writer and teacher to so many.

 

[Owly055]

Just reading down through the product list at New England Cheese supply is pretty interesting, and exciting. Also what I'm beginning to realize is that my exposure to various cheeses is pathetic at best. My materials arrived for to start, and Saturday, I'll purchase a couple gallons of whole milk for my feta attempt. Looks like it will be hard to go very far wrong with that one, though I ordered the C101 culture, which really is not the optimal one for feta..... our of ignorance, and not having read the descriptions of all the cultures and products. I probably should have bought type II C61, or MM100, which looks like it has a great flavor profile and is extremely versatile.
Molds seem to be pretty high dollar. I have a beautiful piece of stainless steel tubing I scavenged from a junk submersible pump, slightly over 8" long and a bit over 3" diameter, and can probably round up several more....... about perfect for making open bottom molds........... Unlike brewing, there don't seem to be a lot of ways to save money on equipment and supplies.
Nobody's yet really commented on using my Coleman 12 volt cooler controlled with an STC 1000 for a cheese cave.......... I'm a believer in scrounging and using what I have laying around. I've even inquired about buying expired milk for making cheese.........It's normally fine, and they dump hundreds of gallons down the drain.
My Annova is about perfect for temp control.......... If I can come up with a suitable outer container. I'm curious as to what others do........... The perfect solution would be an induction cooktop with an accurate temp sensing control of some sort, and a laminated pan. There are a few out there at HUGE premiums, and if experience is any guide, we can expect over the next few years that competition will make this a common feature. There really is no excuse not to have a thermocouple probe connection as standard equipment, or at least some sort of remote so you can use something like an STC 1000 or even a PID to control them.

I've been watching quite a few Utubes on cheese making.... needless to say. What a great resource! A good book is high on my list.......

H.W.

 

[bernardsmith]

Here's the thing (IMO) about heating: what temperatures are you likely to want to aim for AND when heating how slowly do you want the temperature to rise? I am sure you are right about an induction heater being a good choice. If I had one I could make my cheese in my mead and wine make room in my basement rather than in my kitchen but I find that most of the time I am simply using hot and hotter water to heat my milk because I want the temperature to rise very slowly so that the surface of any curds are not sealed but still allow whey to seep out. A double boiler with the water about 10-15 degrees higher than your target temperature is really all you need to cook curds... And a sink filled with hot water is probably hot enough to begin culturing the milk for most recipes (90-95 F) . Sure you can spend lots of $$$ on equipment but I am not convinced that most home cheese making requires the equipment that supply houses promote.

 

[Owly055]

Cheese cave operational.............
I simply drilled a hole in my Coleman 12 volt cooler to insert a termocouple. I then did a rather crude wiring job with a male plug and a female plug. Using ordinary wire nuts, I attached the two neutrals together and to another wire that went to one power terminal. The hot wire from the male plug was joined to two wires. One went to the other power lead on the STC 1000, the other went to one terminal on the cooling side. The other terminal from the cooling side went to the hot side on the female plug. The male was plugged into the wall, and the female to a 12 volt power supply designed for the cooler.
A little rubber tape seals the holes in the top of the cooler where the thermocouple goes through.
I then adjusted the compressor delay on the STC 1000 to minimum.
A refrigerator thermometer inside doesn't agree with the STC 1000......... showing 5 deg higher, but that's no real problem.

Sunday I'll do my firs cheese.......a feta.

I also dug up several other old junk submersible pumps, and cut them up to "liberate" the nice stainless steel tubes around the motor and pump...... but I haven't yet checked to see if I can drill the stuff...... some stainless requires a cobalt bit...........

This is an edit added later........ the stainless steel is very hard material.

H.W.

 

[Gadjobrinus]

FWIW, I converted this, using a pid. I actually prefer manual-operation, but it was cool to use this unit. Got the plan here. Abe now owns, last I knew, a supply outfit. Great guy.

Oh, and want to mention another supplier. Ricki (New England) is awesome. This is just another option to check out. Dairy Connection is their pro end. Get Culture, their home cheesemaking end. Good folks.

edit: Good luck on your feta. My son will be over to eat it all, thank you very much.

 

[Owly055]

Thanks for the links........... Once my cooler stabilized, the refrigerator thermometer inside read exactly what I had set the STC 1000 for. I consider a PID just a bit over the top. I have one, but purchased it to use in my "micro malt kiln"......... made from a cheap counter top convection oven with rotisserie which now has a rotating screened drum, and the controls completely redesigned so I can run the elements series or parallel, and the rotisserie and convection fan on their own switches........... I like to build and hack ;-)

H.W.