Cheese is getting soggy in bin

[Roger]

A few weeks ago I got my pizza prep unit fixed. It’s now working great and cooling to around 35 degrees. I’m happy I finally got it working right but it’s now brought about another problem. The cheese in the bottom of the bin is now getting soggy and turning some of the cheese to mush. It’s painful having to throw out globs of cheese, especially with how expensive it is these days. The stuff is like gold! I don’t want to waste any. I know the problem is caused by the prep unit being colder now. I’ve never had a condensation problem in the past. The prep unit usually ran around 40 degrees before, up until it broke. I could probably adjust the temperature (if I can figure out how with out screwing things up) a little to solve the problem. I’d much rather have it at 35 degrees but not if it’s going to keep turning the cheese to mush. Have any of you guys ever ran into this problem? What temps were your prep units at, and what did you do to solve the problem? Thanks in advance for the help. -Roger

 

[NicksPizza]

They make a “strainer” insert for all sizes of cambro bins. You could try putting one in the bottom of your cheese bin. It lifts the product like 3/8 inch above bottom to allow, well, drainage. We used them for our cheesesteak prep. The juices could run off and not be all drippy when taken out of the cooler.

 

[system]

I might be off here but is it possible that the temp is hitting below freezing in the unit. Where and how accurate is the 35 f reading you are taking. Others could answer this better than I…but wouldn’t having the cheese freeze and thaw cause it to clump up like that???

 

[NicksPizza]

Mike, that would be a cause. Our shop had outrageous humidity on a daily basis, and the lid doesn’t seal so much as friction fit. So, condensation would run into the cabinet at times. Just down the edges and into corners. If it happened all over for me, I would suspect freezing. We have a thermometer in top and bottom of the prep tables and hovered around 37F most days

 

[Roger]

Nick, that’s pretty much what it’s doing to my cheese bin. It’s just getting in around the edges and corners. What did you do to prevent it?

 

[NicksPizza]

I never got it to stop, but the strainer I mentioned in my 1st post was a decnt substitute . . . I lost far and away less product when using it.

I also got medeival about keeping the damned doors closed when not being used.

 

[anselmospizza]

Had a similar problem due to summer humidity…put lids on the cheese bins and worked like a charm. Simple fix for me, not sure for you. I noticed that my excess moisture was dripping down from the make line covers that covered my pans, so added individual pan lids to protect the food.