Hello - My wife and I have recently delved into the joys of home cheesemaking. We’ve made two cheddars, one farmhouse and one chipotle stirred-curd that are currently in the aging process. We have one spare fridge (i.e. the kegerator) and I currently have a doppelbock lagering in there. I think I can get away with lagering at ~40 degrees, but I really don’t want to go any higher than that. So, my question is will these cheddars be able to age properly at a temp around 35-40, rather than the 45-55?

Thanks for any help.

Welcome.  Good to have you with us.  No, it will not age “properly” at that cool a temp.  It will age, and you will get a cheese out of it, but that is too cool for optimal aging.  If that’s your only option than go for it.  You may need to be a bit more patient than usual as the bacterial action which matures your cheese will be slowed somewhat.  But even so, I don’t think you’ll be disappointed.  Let us know how it turns out.

Welcome Satchmoan !! nice to see so many newcomers this year/Month

Satchmoan,
I’ll go along with what Rich had to say. The cheese will not age as perfectly as it would in a temperature/humidity controlled environment, but it will age.
When I first started out, everything was aged in my regular old, garden variety household frige. Even though the wheels had to age longer, I was still very happy with the results.
It is very difficult to have everything immediately in place to make perfect cheese. Regardless, you can still make very edibile cheese that in my opinion far surpasses what you can buy in the local grocery store.
After three years of accumulating equipment and reading everything I can on the subject (and doing TONS of practice), I am yet to turn out what I consider to be the perfect wheel of cheese.
Regardless of that fact I am having a blast and I’m getting closer with each batch.
Just jump in with both feet and pay careful attention to each batch you make. By identifying problems and shortcomings, each batch will get a little better and a little more refined.
Also, Welcome to the forum. Lots of great information and people here. Glad to have you on board.

Dave

One thing I forgot to mention, which Dave’s post reminded me of, is that it is important to take notes.  I have one of those bound composition notebooks that I keep my cheese records in.  For every batch I assign a number, which goes on the wheel of cheese in my cave.  I make note of every stage in the production of the cheese, and then add followup notes throughout the aging - and eating - stages.  By doing so, you will be prompted to remember little details that may otherwise escape you.  When a cheese lacks something you can go back to your notes and see what you did, looking for things to change.  Conversely, when one is outstanding, you have a better chance of duplicating it.

Hope you have a great time; and I’m anticipating hearing of your successes.

Thanks for all the welcomes and help. Since we’re just beginning, I suppose we’ll accept an edible cheese and work towards making it better. The doppelbock only has to stay in the fridge lagering for a month, so we’ll be able to readjust the fridge after that to a better temp for the other several months of cheese aging. As far as note keeping goes, I have been homebrewing for about 6 years and I am a firm believer in taking the most detailed notes I possibly can.  We’ve already got a notebook dedicated to the craft.

Thanks again for the input!