Is temperature absolutely critical during the aging of your cheese?

Well that is today’s question about cheese temperature during aging is from Albert from Catalunya (Spain).

Albert asks;

Hello Gavin

I’m Albert, from Catalunya (Spain, for the moment…) and I read your
cheese blog since one year ago (sorry if my English is not correct).

I’m trying to age my cheeses as correctly as I can, so I bought recently a
little wine cooler http://www.carrefouronline.carrefour.es/noalimentacion/TemplateProduct.aspx?itemMarcado=catalog310010&strands=true&itemId=117701082(it
works with a compressor, is not a thermoelectic with fan ) and I think there is
a problem.

Example: When I put their temp. to 9º C it starts to cool until 9º
C, ok, but after it doesn’t starts cooling again since the temp. arrives to a
14º or 15º C. In this case I don’t have a constant temperature, I only have a
temperature going up and down again and again from 9º to 14ºC.

So, the question
is: is it a serious problem? Do I need an exactly constant temperature? Do I
need an external thermostat who gives me a more accurate range of temps?

It’s a shame, the wine cooler was so cheap…

Thanks for your help and congratulations for your e-book
—
Albert Campsolinas
http://foratgatiner.blogspot.com/

Well Albert, I believe that the answer is quite a simple one.  No, your minor temperature range will not matter at all for maturing semi-hard and hard cheeses.

My Cheese Fridge shut down for the Summer

Cheese has been made for many thousands of years without refrigeration, in various temperature conditions, so I don’t think it will matter much.  As long as it stays cool, the cheese culture will do its magic and convert the remaining lactose into lactic acid and give the cheese whatever the desired flavour is and get stronger with age.

With that said, if the fridge gets above 14º C and if you do not want to buy a new one, try an external thermostat as you have suggested.

I recently had to move all of my maturing cheese into the normal refrigerator, because my thermoelectric wine fridge could not keep it cool enough due to the extreme heat we are having here in Australia at the moment.  I may need to convert an old kitchen fridge with the aid of an external thermostat as well!

So, if you want a consistent result and want each cheese to taste almost exactly the same, you would have to emulate factory like precision and keep the temperature constant with very little variation +/- 1º C.   But then, what would be the fun in that, as people would just buy store-bought cheese and not make their own.  Making cheese at home is all about the excitement, anticipation, and experimentation–within reason–so if it tastes good, then there is no problem.

The only exception regarding temperature range, that can think of and that I could be cautious about, would be mould ripened cheese like Camembert, Brie, Roquefort,  Stilton, and any other type of blue.  From experience, these types of cheese need very specific low temperatures (around 7ºC) or the mould gets out of control and you do not get the desired taste.  I prefer to ripen these in a normal refrigerator at around 4ºC.  Much lower than recommended I know, and it takes a bit longer to age this way, but it does work and I get a much better result.

Remember that this is just my opinion gained from experience, and cheese purists may answer your question differently.

Hope that helps you and other amateur cheese makers out there trying to make cheese for the first time.

Has anyone else had a similar experience they would like to share and add to the answer?  Feel free to leave a comment as your views will be more than welcome.

Most semi-hard and hard cheeses need a constant temperature of between 10-14°C in which to mature correctly.  So let’s answer some reader questions on the topic and dispense some cheese fridge tips.

This is the subject of today’s reader email.  Sandra wants some information about cheese (aka wine) fridge issues.

Hi Gavin,

Could you please tell me the Brand of Wine Fridge you purchased for your Cheeses?

Have you had any problems with the thermostat in it holding a constant temperature – summer and winter?

I have been having lots of problems with the Tempo 16 Bottle Wine Fridge I bought. I am on my second Tempo Wine Fridge in two years. After 6 months the thermostats start floating all over the place – mostly too hot – hence ruining my cheeses.

I mostly make Camembert, Blues, Farmers and Swiss cheeses.

I would appreciate your help.
Sandra

Well firstly, thank you Sandra for your email.  I enjoy answering each and every one of them from my readers.

The model of my cheese fridge is a 28 bottle wine fridge, similar to yours.  It is made by PAVO (I have no association with this company).  I have no idea if it is good, bad, or otherwise.  It has worked tirelessly for the 3.5 years that I have owned it.

That said, I have discovered some interesting things about how to maintain the temperature of these devices.  They are not really fridges at all, and do not employ normal refrigeration techniques.  This type of fridge is a thermoelectric wine cooler and only uses 70 watts.

These type of fridges need a room temperature of below 75°F to function correctly.  They also need adequate ventilation, and lots of room behind it so that it works effectively.  My cheese fridge has about 30 cm (1 ft) clearance all around the sides and back.  It is also located away from any heat sources like other fridges, ovens, stoves, etc.

I also keep a remote temperature and relative humidity sensor inside the fridge, just to keep an eye on it when I am at my desk.

The final tip is about humidity.  These sorts of fridges normally keep the air inside at about 40-50%  RH, which is far too low for cheese making.  I have found that by filling a 4 litre plastic tub with water and placing on the floor of the fridge, it brings the humidity up to about 75%RH.  This is still a bit low for most cheese, so I keep blue and mould cheese in a separate container to ripen which ensures a much higher humidity.

I can ripen cheese like Caerphilly and Farmhouse for the first month, then wax them before they split.

You can also repurpose an old kitchen refrigerator using an external thermometer device.  A long time reader sent me through this information.

Hi Gavin

I don’t know if you’re familiar, but there is an item that can transform a normal fridge to a cheese cave level. I’ve read blogs from people here in the US who use them and they say they work well. I haven’t read enough of your blog to know If you’ve seen them before, if so I’m sorry, but I thought if not, you might be interested. I got this off of the Cheesemaker.com website:

JC Thermostat
Turn your refrigerator or freezer into a cheese cave.

This thermostat makes it easy to convert your refridgerator or freezer into a ‘cheese cave’. Just plug the thermostat into your wall socket. Then plug your freezer or refridgerator into the thermostat and adjust the thermostat anywhere from 20-80f degrees.(6.6 to 26.6c).Accuracy: +or- one degree F. 110-120V AC. UL listed. This thermostat does not work with 220v.

I’ve attached the picture that went with the description in the attachment. Perhaps you can locate it’s Australian equivalent and share it with your readers. Thanks again. Look forward to reading more of your blog!

Sharon

Here is a picture of the thermostat.

Hopefully, I have given you and all other readers enough information to make your cheese maturation a reality with one of these fridges.

If anyone else has any other tips for maintaining the correct temperature in your repurposed wine fridge, please leave a comment.

Addendum: Since writing this post I have moved to a better method for maturing cheese.  You can read about my new cheese fridge here!