A Little More Life From An Old Refrigerator

[~gd]

I'm hoping I can figure out how to get my fridge in the garage to stay at about 50 degrees, so I can turn it into my aging/ripening chamber for homemade cheese. Still working out the details on that. Especially since it got relegated to the garage when it started freezing everything....hmmmm

Home brewers often have this problem because Lagers (type of cool brewed beer) are fermented in that temperature range and many (including me like draft beer that isn;t ice cold. The usual fix is a secondary thermostat to control to a higher temperature. You can buy a rig ready made at many suppliers but if you do some searching you may find a SS solution on the internet.

 

[Boogity]

Another excellent use for an old, old 'frig is a smoker. No plastic interior parts allowed though.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

I'm hoping I can figure out how to get my fridge in the garage to stay at about 50 degrees, so I can turn it into my aging/ripening chamber for homemade cheese. Still working out the details on that. Especially since it got relegated to the garage when it started freezing everything....hmmmm

Home brewers often have this problem because Lagers (type of cool brewed beer) are fermented in that temperature range and many (including me like draft beer that isn;t ice cold. The usual fix is a secondary thermostat to control to a higher temperature. You can buy a rig ready made at many suppliers but if you do some searching you may find a SS solution on the internet.

what he said.

i've seen the cheese sites talking about this but i've yet to track one down. i'd love to have a full size fridge for all my cheese. let us know if you find one

 

[CacklingCarolyn]

I have been told by appliance people that a refrigerator needs to be in the upright position for 24 hours before being plugged in. So you might let it set after having turned it upside down.

 

[ORChick]

i've seen the cheese sites talking about this but i've yet to track one down. i'd love to have a full size fridge for all my cheese. let us know if you find one

My Korean sister-in-law has told us about the latest thing in Korea - well, *latest* some while ago; I think she mentioned it first 8 or 10 years ago. The Koreans eat a lot of kimchi (Korean Sauerkraut, in a way), and now they have special refrigerators for all the various types which one might have on hand at any given time (SIL usually has 3 or 4 different kinds in the [regular] 'fridge). This 'fridge has closed drawers (like veg. crisper drawers) throughout, and the temps can be regulated for the different sections, as some kimchi needs to be colder, and some not so cold. We went to a large Asian market in Portland last week for the first time, and saw some of these 'fridges - very interesting, I can see why SIL really wants one. Now I was more impressed with the description of how the Koreans used to keep their kimchi - they would put it into large ceramic pots buried in the back yard, to keep the temp. sort of regulated, with just the top exposed. But for apartment dwellers perhaps the fancy 'fridge is more practical. Would probably work nicely for cheese - but they weren't cheap