Cheese cave in the apartment - 1

Rooms in caves and underground cellars create ideal conditions for cheese ripening, providing a stable temperature of about 12 degrees and sufficient humidity. In urban settings, novice cheese makers usually adapt a refrigerator for cheese aging. This is quite enough for the first experiments. But, as the volume and range of produced cheeses increases, there will obviously not be enough space in the refrigerator.
A loggia in city apartments of 70-90 projects can be converted into an excellent cheese aging chamber. This space is about 4 sq.m. many, as a rule, try to improve it – to install a double-glazed window, sometimes to carry out heating there. If you decide to equip a cheese cave on the loggia, then heating is not needed in it, and the benefits will be significantly higher than from a small recreation area or storage room.
The project budget will be around $ 700, including the purchase and installation of a new split air conditioner. A conventional air conditioner will be sufficient to provide the required temperature during hot periods. It will provide a constant temperature of 12-15 degrees, the necessary humidity and air movement in the room. Although the area of ​​the loggia is small, the air conditioner does not need to be purchased with minimum power. I recommend choosing a minimum of about 25 m of refrigerated area. Then the system will work without overloads and will serve for a long time.
You will also need foam to insulate the room. Thermal insulation is made with solid sheets 100 mm thick. In this case, higher density foam is laid on the floor. Doors, window and doorways are also insulated. The window will not open during the warm season. It is additionally covered with a basalt fiber mat and a removable foam sheet.
We equip shelves across the entire width of the wall opposite the air conditioner. The uprights must be on a solid foundation – we install them before we lay the foam on the floor. The tops of the uprights are also fixed with foam sheets that are glued to the ceiling. On top of the foam sheets on the floor, lay 10 mm plywood or OSB board.