meat cabinet

cathouse willy · Post by **cathouse willy** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 02:01

Here is a shot of the nearly complete cabinet. The cab is 4'x4'x2' and the fridge takes up about 1/4 of it. The whole thing is in a basement room That stays around 65 deg and 70% rh so it shouldn't have to work hard. I will make a dry run with a dummy load just to smooth out any wrinkles.

Post by **Bob K** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 11:05

You're going to use the cabinet as the chamber and the refrigerator to cool it? Refrigerators also produce heat.

cathouse willy · Post by **cathouse willy** » Fri Aug 18, 2017 17:07

You're right about the heat. I'll see how things work with a dry run. If needs be I can cut a hole behind the fridge and slide it back so the heated radiator is out side the cab.

cathouse willy · Post by **cathouse willy** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 06:07

So here's the latest incarnation of the drying cab. As pointed out to me on another thread the fridge crates heat as well as cold and the single bar fridge just wasn't up to the cooling task so I removed the fridge from the cab and added a second one to boost the cooling capacity. I've also insulated and added a small circulation fan. I've got it running now and the temp is dropping. I'm hoping this version will do the trick.

Post by **Bob K** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 11:49

Plus you doubled your capacity! One other thought, if the fridges have the ice box you may have to find a way to take care of the condensation.

cathouse willy · Post by **cathouse willy** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 18:41

They both have a freezer with manual defrost, hopefully they won't have to run all the time so there will be melting ice to deal with. I've noticed that humidity drops quickly when the fridges come on so that will affect how to keep it at the right level. I'm not sure what to expect when I hang meat in there, can anyone suggest something to use as a dummy load to test things out?

Post by **Bob K** » Fri Aug 25, 2017 20:06

Just maintain the humidity at 80-85%. What will happen is the moisture that freezes on the ice box when they are running will thaw and drip when they are off. The same thing happens with a frost free freezer except they they have drains and evaporator pans.

cathouse willy · Post by **cathouse willy** » Tue Sep 12, 2017 17:24

Salami Calabrese. All cased up and ready for the ferment/drying cabinet. I'm hoping they'll be ready for Christmas.

Post by **Bob K** » Tue Sep 12, 2017 17:53

Looks good! 50mm fibrous casings? They should be done well before Christmas.

cathouse willy · Post by **cathouse willy** » Fri Oct 06, 2017 03:40

success!!! It has a nice tang and a bit of heat and looks ok too

joe_indi · Post by **joe_indi** » Fri Oct 06, 2017 06:44

Instead of the mini refrigerator it might be possible to use a peltier based temperature controller.
You could then choose to cool the cabinet or, if required warm it, which is usually done by reversing the voltage

This is an example of a DIY peltier based air cooling system.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Thermoe ... nditioner/

For larger volumes to cool more units might be required.

cathouse willy · Post by **cathouse willy** » Fri Oct 06, 2017 17:15

My controller will heat or cool as well as controlling the humidity. It's a plug and play unit made by Inkbird, so far it's worked really well.
link
http://www.ink-bird.com/products-humidi ... hc230.html

cathouse willy · Post by **cathouse willy** » Sun Oct 15, 2017 19:54

Orange Lonzino

Just out of the dryer.

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sliced and ready for tasting

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There is a bit of surface hardening I think because the fan ran too much but this is my first time and I'm happy. I've nver had lonzino and this tastes wonderful.

Post by **Bob K** » Mon Oct 16, 2017 12:41

Looks good! If you want to even out the moisture, clean off the mold/remove casing, vac seal and refrigerate. It takes around a month.

It takes a while to fine tune your cabinet - They are all different.

Post by **redzed** » Thu Oct 19, 2017 01:21

Hey Willy that lonza looks great! Maybe I'll have to jump the ditch and come over for a slice!