Aging & the Cave

Aging is where nothing appears to happen for months and then you either have something wonderful or a cracked, ammoniated disappointment. The difference is almost entirely two numbers and a breeze — and the machinery for holding them steady.

The Numbers

The Numbers A domestic fridge is 10–15° too cold and is a dehumidifier by design. Here are the targets it fails, and the failure table for everything that goes wrong in a cave. Explore →

What Aging Does

What Aging Does Aging is not storage — storage holds a thing still, and a cheese held still just gets old. Three clocks run at three speeds, and water is the one you can weigh. Explore →

Flipping, Brushing & Washing

Flipping, Brushing & Washing Three verbs doing three different jobs. Turning keeps a wheel symmetrical, brushing keeps a rind in check, washing builds a rind that would not otherwise exist — and a brush is a vector. Explore →

Problems in the Cave

Problems in the Cave Not a third symptom table. A cave is an ecosystem, nearly every contaminant in it is somebody else’s deliberate flora, and mites want exactly the temperature you are holding. Explore →

When Is It Ready?

When Is It Ready? Ready is a decision, not an event — a cheese does not finish, you stop it. The trier, the plug, what you can read without cutting, and the one mistake you cannot correct. Explore →

My Aging Fridge

My Aging Fridge A secondhand refrigerator rebuilt to hold the low fifties at 90% — plus motors inside it that turn the wheels so the door opens when the cave wants it to, not when the cheese does. Explore →

Building a Cave

Building a Cave Four by ten feet, cement on three sides, a vapor barrier and a salvaged wooden walk-in cooler door. I did not build a cave — I found one and finished it. Explore →