You can age your own cheese wheels at home.
Making homemade cheese can be a fun and satisfying experience, but it can also be frustrating and require some creativity. One of the hardest parts is aging the cheese. Without a cheese cave -- not a standard part of most homes -- you may have trouble achieving and maintaining the correct temperature and humidity levels that your cheese needs. The refrigerator is not an ideal substitute, as it is significantly colder than a proper cheese cave and can dry out your cheese. With a little creativity, however, you can recreate the conditions of a cheese cave in your own home.
Instructions
1. Wrap the cheese you wish to age in parchment paper, then place it in an airtight container that is more than twice the size of the cheese. Ideally, the cheese should take up approximately 40 percent of the inside of the container, leaving the other 60 percent containing air.
2. Dampen a paper towel until it is wet but not dripping. Place it against one wall of the container, well away from the cheese; the towel should not touch the cheese at all, nor be wet enough to leave a layer of water in the bottom of the container. Seal the container.
3. Place the container of cheese in the warmest part of your refrigerator. In many cases, this will be the vegetable bin. Leave it here for a week, then check on it. If the cheese is too dry, add more water to the paper towel. If it is too wet, replace the wet paper towel with a drier one. Return the container to the refrigerator for another week, then check on it again. Repeat this process until your cheese has aged completely. The number of weeks this will take depends on the type of cheese you are making, so consult your recipe for details.
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