Aging fridge

From SackWiki

Cheeses need to be aged for months at specific temperatures before they are ready to eat. The average temperature is 50-55 degrees F, which is quite a bit warmer than an average refrigerator. Since I don't have access to a root cellar or cave, I opted to rig an old dorm fridge that we had and make it my dedicated cheese fridge.

The warmest the fridge would get on its own (with the dial turned all the way down) was 40 degrees, which wasn't even close to what I needed. So, I bought an external thermostat and hooked it up to the fridge. It's now keeping a steady 52-55 degress, which is just right.

The thermostat is made by Ranco and is model ETC-111000. It came un-wired, so Dad and I wired it by splitting an extension cord in half and then stripping and attaching the ends inside the unit to match the wiring diagram that came along with it. I then plugged the fridge into the thermostat, and the thermostat into the wall. Then I put the sensor inside the fridge and set the digital read-out and it's good to go. The thermostat kicks power on and off to the fridge as needed to maintain temperature.