How To Control Humidity.

[Divey]

It's a long time since I made some cheese. I became disheartened with the varying finished products I was making. Some were good and some were very disappointing. Now that Milk Suppliers here (Sydney, Australia) are supplying milk that is Permeate free, I thought I would step up and have another go and see if I can create something that is little more consistent.

There is one question I have not seen answered. How do you folks control humidity in something like a small bar fridge. I can manually control the temperature, however, I am at a loss in controlling the humidity. In the past I have placed a bath of water in the bottom of the fridge but the humidity readings were never higher enough to achieve satisfactory results.

Can anyone help me.

[SmokenDevo]

http://www.sausagemaker.com/tutorials/c ... amber.html

[Divey]

Thanks for that. Probably a tad too tall for a bar fridge but a great idea all the same.

[wheels]

Long shots, but maybe a wet towel, replaced regularly; or the beads that are used in cigar storage boxes (humidors?), or create an area within the fridge - a sort of box within a box, so that the fridge affects the humidity less?

HTH

Phil

[Divey]

I had a little chuckle to myself yesterday when I was searching for humidifiers when I came across one particular model and there was a warning that it should not be used in a humid environment.

Great eh!!

[wheels]

Perhaps we should present this as a challenge to members?

Is it possible to create a cheese chamber (or even something for making dried sausage) in a bar top beer fridge?

It's not a trick question: I haven't a clue!

Surely, some member has done it.

Phil

[ericrice]

I have two that I use (back bar coolers), but only in the wintertime. They are both in the garage so as the temp gets cold enough I don't even need to have them plugged in. My wife and I entertain a good bit so in the summer months they provide much needed refrigerator space. I haven't tried to cure in the warmer months - the fan seems to cycle often when it's plugged in, even in the cooler months, so I would be concerned about too much air circulation. So for me they provide dual purposes and were well worth the expense (got my 2nd one for $500 on ebay). However if you were just looking to use as a full time chamber it would likely be an expensive big sealed box for you. Hope that helps.

[ericrice]

Just went back and saw the original question on humidity - which I didn't really answer. I woudl still say if the cooler is kept in a warmer environment (inside or garage in warm weather) it will cycle too often to keep humidity and airflow in acceptable ranges. Prior to using the cooler I had a spot in the basement and used cool mist humidifiers so I have used them with a hydrostat in my coolers. Frankly once I place my initial meat in for curing the humidifiers don't even run as the humidity in the cooler stays very high (80%+) on it's own. To the contrary I usually prop one door a bit to keep the humidity from going too high and allow some airflow. I haven't done cheese but I assume the process is much the same based on your initial question.