Curing Chamber with a Fridge

[damienhogan]

Hi,

I have found some tutorials about how to turn a fridge into a curing chamber but they don't really mention whether you actually have the fridge on or do you just use the heater and humidifier controlled by the sensors you add. Hope that makes sense.

[wheels]

The normal set up is to have an external thermostat controlling the power supply to the fridge motor. In this type of set up, you set the fridge control to it's maximum setting (the coldest).

HTH

Phil

[Wunderdave]

if your house stays at 10-15C you won't need to run your fridge's compressor. Otherwise, you will.

[damienhogan]

Is there any problem with buying a heating element for inside and is monitored by a temperature controller which can switch the heating element off when it reaches a certain temperature. Basically by passing using the fridges heating elements.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Biogreen-TER2-G ... RRQTXM1W0M

This basically can monitor the heater.

[Wunderdave]

Fridges don't have heating elements, they have cooling elements. There's no way you need a heater more than you need refrigeration. That controller you linked will work to control your fridge (cooling) though.

[Dryamilehi]

I use a charcoal starter on my thermostat for heat during the fermenting stage.
I do have to switch the wiring around on the t-stat (its a little primitive)

http://www.amazon.com/Refrigerator-Freezer-Thermostat-Temperature-Controller/dp/B004B4HAPO/ref=pd_sbs_k_5

This one looks nice!
http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=37&products_id=265

[damienhogan]

Fridges don't have heating elements, they have cooling elements. There's no way you need a heater more than you need refrigeration. That controller you linked will work to control your fridge (cooling) though.

Ok so if I can use that to control the fridge and set it to even its max which is 5c thats only 41f which from recipes iv seen isnt enough temp. I was wondering how they increased the temp within the fridge. Thats why I thought they used a heating element. Sorry for all the questions Im new to all this.

[wheels]

What you do is to turn the fridge to it's maximum and then use an external thermostat to turn the fridge motor on and off to control the temperature.

HTH

Phil

[damienhogan]

What you do is to turn the fridge to it's maximum and then use an external thermostat to turn the fridge motor on and off to control the temperature.

HTH

Phil

Ok so that I understand now but e.g. on this recipe viewtopic.php?f=16&t=1050 it says or temps around 8-18C which cant be done in a fridge if its max is 5C. I can do the room temp stuff for the first few days naturally in my house but cant see how controlling it makes it go higher? Sorry if im not being clear I do appreciate your feedback and guidance.

[wheels]

Sorry, I'm not explaining very well. By using an external thermostat, you can run the fridge at any temperature you want (up to room temperature). You set a temperature on the thermostat and it turns on the power to the fridge until the fridge has cooled to that temperature. It then turns the power off until the temperature has risen by a chosen amount that can also be programmed in to the thermostat.

By using this method, you can (say) set the thermostat setting to 11°C and the 'difference' setting to 2°C. The thermostat will send power to the fridge until it's cooled to 11°C and then turn the power off so that the fridge cannot get any colder. It'll keep the power off until the fridge has warmed by 2°C to 13°C, and then turn it back on to cool again. The thermostat also has a 'delay' setting that can be used to ensure that the fridge isn't 'cycled' on and off too quickly.

I hope that this makes it clearer.

Phil

[damienhogan]

Sorry, I'm not explaining very well. By using an external thermostat, you can run the fridge at any temperature you want (up to room temperature). You set a temperature on the thermostat and it turns on the power to the fridge until the fridge has cooled to that temperature. It then turns the power off until the temperature has risen by a chosen amount that can also be programmed in to the thermostat.

By using this method, you can (say) set the thermostat setting to 11°C and the 'difference' setting to 2°C. The thermostat will send power to the fridge until it's cooled to 11°C and then turn the power off so that the fridge cannot get any colder. It'll keep the power off until the fridge has warmed by 2°C to 13°C, and then turn it back on to cool again. The thermostat also has a 'delay' setting that can be used to ensure that the fridge isn't 'cycled' on and off too quickly.

I hope that this makes it clearer.

Phil

That's perfect I completely understand now. Saves me having to fork out on all that extra equipment. Thank you for explaing it to much it's much appreciated.

[wheels]

No problem - keep us posted about how you get on.

Phil

[craigster59]

Just wanted to say "Hello" and have been lurking and getting a lot of info from this forum. Starting to get my equipment together and wanted to share a link to some good information on turning a fridge into a curing/drying chamber.
http://curedmeats.blogspot.com/2007/07/ ... amber.html

Hope to post pics of my first batch and thanks for all the valuable information!

[NCPaul]

Welcome to the forum. Jason is a member of this forum, so there are a lot of fans of his on this site (I'm one).

[wheels]

+1 for being a fan of Jason's.

For UK suppliers, I'll give an unashamed plug for my own posts about converting a fridge starting here:

http://www.localfoodheroes.co.uk/?e=780

...any feedback from UK members, or overseas ones for that matter, will be appreciated

Phil