Hi, new member here. I’m very new to cheese making and still in the process of setting up equipment. Just finished the cheese press (photos attached).  I’m happy to share dimensions if anyone is interested. I made the press for around $50.00 The black bars are from a weight lifting bar which comes in three perfectly sized pieces ($29 new at Walmart). Wood is from a single 8ft x 5.5inch x1inch piece of cedar ($9). Black rings are just large washers which were primed and painted black ($10). Weights from Craigslist for $5 (1.25lb and 2.5lb plates).

Does anyone have experience with heating a cheese-cave-fridge in a cold garage?  There is just no room in my home. I have all the modification equipment for cooling and humidifying my 3.2 cf fridge, but warming the fridge is another dimension entirely. I’m testing out a terrarium brick heater inside the fridge which is set on a separate thermostat. Seems to work well with the garage at 29 degrees F (max achievable temp inside fridge was 61 degrees). These types of heaters are well suited to high humidity conditions. Any pitfalls for using this approach? Are there better options for heating? Any pitfalls for a garage in general? Thanks!
Jaymes

Nice looking press; I love your creativity.  Also, a pleasing design as well.

I think your plan will work well.  Refrigerators are fairly well insulated, so you should be able to maintain the desired temp.  If you can maintain 61 in a 29 degree environment, you should be able to do 50 at any temp.  How will you be sealing your cheese?  If you do a vacuum seal, humidity ceases to be a concern.  Also, if you’re going to have any naked cheese in there - such as drying prior to sealing, mold may be a consideration.  I know you’ll sanitize it well prior to use, but being in a garage opens up new sources for molds and bacteria. 

All in all, it looks like you have a viable plan going Jaymes.  So, when will you get started?

Rich, thanks for the feedback. Good to know I’m not too far off track on the planning/execution. I’m planning to wrap the cheese in cheese cloth. You mentioned the higher mold content in a garage and that has me thinking I might add in a small HEPA filter for the air going into the humidifier. I’m hoping to start my first cheese in a month. I’m trying to complete major kitchen renovation at the same time as the cheese project so I’m a bit behind on everything. My last cheese project steps are to carefully drill holes in the fridge and run the wires (somewhat anxiety provoking given the online accounts of folks rupturing the heat exchange coils. Fridge is toast if that’s the case). I’ll keep everyone posted on how this works out for temp and humidity.

You might want to reconsider covering your cheese with cheese cloth for aging.  The cheese will dry out and crack.  There are three ways of covering cheese:  bandaging is the oldest and involves wrapping with cloth and coating thickly with lard.  The lard will mold but this is stripped off when the wrap is removed.  The second is cheese wax.  You melt the wax and then dip the cheese into it until you have a uniform thick layer of wax covering the cheese.  The third, and the one I prefer is vacuum sealing.  I have found this to be much less mess, quicker, and less prone to mold formation due to minor cracks forming in the wax.  You also don’t have to dry the cheese quite as much.  I forgot to mention that with the first two methods you need to air dry the wheel until there is a rind formed.

You might also want to reconsider drilling holes in your fridge.  I have wires running into my fridge directly through the door.  The gasket around the door seals off the wires nicely when the door is shut.

BTW, we redid our kitchen not too long ago so I can sympathize with what all that involves.  Keyword:  patience.

Welcome Jar123 !
Very nice press, looks great.
In cheese making Salt is your best freind, wiping down the surface will prevent contamination. I use chees wax.
Teatree is a great antiseptic for mound and does not harm people, if you spray the garage then that will help allot, essencial oil diffusers are readaly availbable. Heating is a real problem since depending on the cheese the average temp would be 4c, I place mine in the food crisper, so this is the number to aim for.

Thank you both for the feedback. I’ll probably go with the cloth-wrapped cheese/lard approach with for first cheeses. I’ll try to sanitize as much as possible and I may give your antiseptic idea a try in that process.  If the cheese ends up tasting like my garage, I may have to reconsider my approach here. I really want my kitchen back so I can get started.