Hello everybody i’m Lee and and I just made my first cheese. Yeah!!! I bought the Ricki Caroll hard cheese kit and made my first farmhouse cheddar. I’m gonna turn into a cheese addict I can tell already. So excited eveything went well I believe, its sitting in the press now. I can’t wait till tomorrow so i can make a Colby. Ive been reading so much of this message board I think its great, keep posting people I need to learn more. So I’m at the beginner stage and I bought her cheese book, I can’t wait for it to arrive. I am looking forward to all. I’ll be using a mini fridge for a cave hopefully I can keep my temp and moisture correct I hope i don’t hafta buy a regulater thing. Oh yeah and after I made the cheddar she has a recipe for making ricotta out of the whey it was so simple i did it and i only got about a half pint but it was so delicious its gone already, my honey and I just starting tasting spoonfuls of it and it magically disappeared. I can now see that the hardest part of all will be fighting off all my relatives that insist on being the first ones who get to try my stuff.(lol) This year I also started making homemade wines and my relatives just can’t seem to get the concept of waiting. oh well best cheesemaking wishes to all.

Welcome aboard !! Glad to hear your steaming ahead and enjoying it.

Hello Lee, glad to hear you’re joining the craft.  I remembered the excitement I felt a couple years ago when I first started when I read your post.  A couple of things for you to keep in mind:
First, always keep detailed notes of every batch you make.  You’ll have some batches that are better than others and you’ll want to be able to duplicate them.
Second, follow the recipe closely until you have some experience under your belt.  Then you will want to experiment and see what differences you can impart to your cheeses.
Third, youWILL need to get a thermostat for your fridge/cave.  A refrigerator will be too cold even at its highest setting.
Fourth, and this is in no specific order - be fanatical about sanitation!  The slightest contamination will drastically effect the flavor of your cheese.
Fifth, keep us posted.  We can learn from you too.

So, as Neil said, welcome aboard.  And happy cheese making to you.

Hello again and thank you sooo much for the info and the warning about the small fridge needing a temp regulator. I can’t buy one right now but i found that the shelves leading to my basement are at the ideal temperature for now so ill be storing them there in tupperware. I read to put a piece of wet sponge in the tupperware with them for humidity is anyone else doing this if so how do you know if its to wet or not wet enough ??? right now my cheddar is air drying and looking great and I made a colby which is in the press and all seems to be going well. I will be sticking to exact recipes as best I can. I had no problems raisng 2 degress every 5 min on the first one but on the second cheese it didnt go so perfect and it went slower then evry 5 min it might have taken me and extra 12 minutes to get to the right temp then it should have is this gonna be a problem? it is a basic beginner colby. thanx again Lee.

No, too slow is not a problem - too fast is a problem.

As to humidity, you can go to Wal Mart and get a digital temp/humidity gauge for about $6.

However, if you’re only aging waxed cheeses, the humidity is less a factor than it would be for an unwaxed cheese.