I am in a quandary. I picked up a Victory VF-1 Commercial Freezer for free. I was told it no longer worked. The original idea was to convert it into a smoker as a project. I am a recreational smoker and clearly don't need anything this big (I already have MES 30).
They threw in 8 stainless steel racks that fit perfectly (original were epoxy/plastic covered racks).
The guy that loaded it up cut the thermometer wire when he removed the front plate so the thermo doesn't work.
So, I get it home, plug it up and voila it DOES work. Hence my quandary (at least one of them). This is a very expensive commercial freezer and even though it was free, I am not sure that it make sense to convert. The insulation is polyurethane foam and rated probably only to 180 to 250 degrees. I ran it overnight night and it went to below 0 degrees (below the limit of thermo I bought to test)
One of my chemical industry buddies indicated it was risky so I am looking for other options.....Here are a few.
The idea on the first couple of these is to create a temperature barrier that will not allow the interior temp maximum (thinking 300 degrees) to make it to the polyurethane.
Here is a pic and any ideas, advice, etc. would be welcomed.
They threw in 8 stainless steel racks that fit perfectly (original were epoxy/plastic covered racks).
The guy that loaded it up cut the thermometer wire when he removed the front plate so the thermo doesn't work.
So, I get it home, plug it up and voila it DOES work. Hence my quandary (at least one of them). This is a very expensive commercial freezer and even though it was free, I am not sure that it make sense to convert. The insulation is polyurethane foam and rated probably only to 180 to 250 degrees. I ran it overnight night and it went to below 0 degrees (below the limit of thermo I bought to test)
One of my chemical industry buddies indicated it was risky so I am looking for other options.....Here are a few.
- Sell it for $1,000+ (new are listed at $7,000) and buy some new golf clubs
- Sell it for $1,000+ and buy a kegerator.
- If I can find a way to regulate the temperature to say 35 degrees, convert it to fridge and 3 tap kegerator
- Go ahead and convert to smoker (thinking electric)
- Convert to smoker and sell it for $1,000+ (can you imagine how many butts and ribs this thing could handle?)
- Other ideas????
The idea on the first couple of these is to create a temperature barrier that will not allow the interior temp maximum (thinking 300 degrees) to make it to the polyurethane.
- Line the interior sides with concrete fiber board
- Line the interior sides with concrete fiber board and cover that in aluminum or stainless sheet.
- Attach welding blanket to interior sides
- Attach welding blanket to interior sides and cover that in aluminum or stainless sheet
- Attach some sort of high temp insulation (roxul, fiberglass, etc.) to the interior and cover that in aluminum or stainless sheet. In this case, if I can find 1/4 inch to 1/2 inch insulation I'd like to use that so as to not lose too much interior space and so that I can still use those awesome stainless racks.
Here is a pic and any ideas, advice, etc. would be welcomed.