Curing Chamber Build (w/ Cure View)

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Thats nice !!! I hope to have mine done in the near future..The only thing I have so far is the Freezer...Thanks for the parts list and where to buy them...


Good luck. It isn't too difficult to do once you have the parts. I guess the art part is coming soon. ;o)
 
Yea I have been doing alot of reading....I am also trying to learn how to make cheese...you thought about that one ?
 
Yea I have been doing alot of reading....I am also trying to learn how to make cheese...you thought about that one ?


I have. That is my next project after getting the dry curing down. Mozzarella seems easy and simple enough but that doesn't top the list of my favorite cheeses.
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I was thinking about starting out with chedder and was wondering if I could use my sausage stuffer as a cheese press?
 
I am not much of an authority on the subject but after hitting up Google, I don't see why not. Drain holes would be my first concern. The other would be getting the cheese out although using cheesecloth should simplify that. I am assuming you are using a vertical stuffer.

If the wifey knew what I was thinking right now you (and me) would certainly be in trouble Roller. lol
 
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Yes a vertical stuffer and I would use cheese cloth.. I just need to get busy on the curing chanber because the cheese has to cure for 3 to 12 months...Thanks
 
I let the curing chamber run all night to see how all of this stuff was going to work and so far it is doing exactly as expected. The HUM-1 humidity controller is a little too precise but I haven't been able to figure out how to adjust it. It seems to hold within a percentage or two of the desired humidity level but will kick on the fan or the fogger beyond that. I had expected a little more tolerance for fluctuations much like the temp controller.
 
I am going to build mine using the same equip that you used. Do you think that they are working against one another? And do you think that you have to much surface water in the chamber? The more surface water you have the more the humidity you have. You might put a cover on the water chamber and cutting a 2 in. hole in the top for the moisture to escape..That will cut back on the surface area of the water and still leave you with a large volume tank...
 
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I am going to build mine using the same equip that you used. Do you think that they are working against one another? And do you think that you have to much surface water in the chamber?


Not exactly. I think the HUM-1 unit is just too precise. It either is just right or it isn't which could cause some contention between the fan and the fogger. I am doing this for personal use so a little variation in humidity isn't that big of a deal to me. I am wondering if this unit was really designed for a much larger space where the variations in humidity level will be less pronounced. As an example, when the humidity level is set for 70%, the fan is being kicked on at 72%. Then when the chamber hits 69% the fogger is kicking on. I would have expected at a minimum a 5% variation before kicking either on but that does not seem to be the case. I am going to keep an eye on it and if needed I can just unplug the fan from the controller. I do need airflow though for the extended dry curing I hope to do so I am not sure what to do. I suppose I could purchase another hygrometer and regulate it that way. Regardless, I am not going to borrow any trouble at this point and will do a batch of sausage with the current setup and see what my results are.

I don't think I have too much surface area of water in the chamber but take that with a grain of salt since this is my first build. It could simply be the placement of the HUM-1 unit. I have it about halfway between the humidity source and the top of the fridge which also happens to be where the temp probe is placed. As the fridge runs it should be removing humidity in theory so that may play into this as well.
 
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When I had my Turtle Farm and was hatching 100,000 turtle eggs a year I had a simular set up with a AC and a heater and water tank...It worked great but the room size was 12x20 ft. and had a controler unit on each unit working seperatly so I could put any varency that I wanted in the room..

Do you think 2 seperate units would work better than one that way you could set each one at different settings..That would be the seperation in degrees that you would need so the fan would not be coming on so much...
 
It might. That would be a significant expense though. To be fair it isn't like the fan is kicking on within seconds of the fogger turning off. It is more like an hour or so.
 
Well thats not to bad. I thought it was like on and off at a steady pace all the time non stop...Sounds like you have a good system to work with. I like the idea of the fan that way you can keep the air fresh all the time .
 
Ah. Sorry if I made it sound like that. The fan and air circulation is key to the drying process. Hopefully I will have some great results to post in about 4 - 6 weeks.
 
Ah. Sorry if I made it sound like that. The fan and air circulation is key to the drying process. Hopefully I will have some great results to post in about 4 - 6 weeks.


Seeing that you're in NC too, where did you hear about making this kind of sausage?  I've always just heard of hanging and air drying link sausage.  That is done at temps just above freezing.  Also read about and watched a couple of shows on food network about air drying/aging beef the same way.  One of the shows was with Alton Brown and the other was Guy Fieri.

I would love to try air drying some country link.  Do you or anyone know of some good links on a how to for that?  I'm not sure if I need to add more salt or any Morton cure if I'm planning on air drying.  Drying sausage and making sugar cured hams are too things I wish I'd learned from my Grandpa before he died.  When you're younger, you don't think of those kinds of things till they're too late!

You know, I've got a whole set of Foxfire books.  Think I'll check them for some info.  If I find anything, I'll share.

Bobby
 
Seeing that you're in NC too, where did you hear about making this kind of sausage?  I've always just heard of hanging and air drying link sausage.  That is done at temps just above freezing.  Also read about and watched a couple of shows on food network about air drying/aging beef the same way.  One of the shows was with Alton Brown and the other was Guy Fieri.

I would love to try air drying some country link.  Do you or anyone know of some good links on a how to for that?  I'm not sure if I need to add more salt or any Morton cure if I'm planning on air drying.  Drying sausage and making sugar cured hams are too things I wish I'd learned from my Grandpa before he died.  When you're younger, you don't think of those kinds of things till they're too late!

You know, I've got a whole set of Foxfire books.  Think I'll check them for some info.  If I find anything, I'll share.

Bobby


I have been reading and researching for at least a few years. Most of my motivation has been to recreate Iberico and Serrano Jamon which I had in Spain almost 20 years ago. I also enjoy dry cured sausages and want to make my own. Any half decent sausage book should have instructions on how to do it. http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/ has plenty of information on their website but their books are even more informative.

For these types of fermented sausages you will want cure #2.
 
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