How to get the humidity below 85

[Miss Fortune]

I got bored one fine Sunday afternoon and decided I would convert an old wine fridge into a cheese cave. But then again, I can't get the humidity below 85%. I tried aging a few wheels (gouda, cheddar, tomme) for months, but mold keeps coming back no matter how often I clean and flip them. I even moved them to plastic bins to try controlling the humidity better. Not sure if the high humidity has already messed them up or if I can still salvage things? If the mold ruins the whole batch... is eating moldy cheese deadly? Hahaha.

 

[ChiliCheese]

I got bored one fine Sunday afternoon and decided I would convert an old wine fridge into a cheese cave. But then again, I can't get the humidity below 85%. I tried aging a few wheels (gouda, cheddar, tomme) for months, but mold keeps coming back no matter how often I clean and flip them. I even moved them to plastic bins to try controlling the humidity better. Not sure if the high humidity has already messed them up or if I can still salvage things? If the mold ruins the whole batch... is eating moldy cheese deadly? Hahaha.

For 85%+, try adding a small dish of salt or calcium chloride to absorb moisture. Make sure you've got good airflow around the cheeses, even in bins. If it's just surface mold on hard cheeses, you can usually scrape/cut it off and save 'em!

 

[Cheeryjoke]

You can also put each in a separate container with vent holes and flip them and dry them which hopefully should lower the humidity and keep them mold free. As for the ones that are already affected, if it's surface mold you can scrape it off and the rest will be fine. If it penetrated deep within, then I wouldn't eat those.