# Salami curing chamber



## morrit

So this year im converting my garage into my little smoke house/charcuterie. Only thing i am missing is a curing chamber. I would love to make salami and the like but i have zero (thats 0) technical skills. Hell... i dont even own a drill. Its embarassing i know but thats the way it goes. So... does anyone know where i can get my hands on a curing chamber? Ive read up and it involves lots of technical stuff and to be honest last thing i want isnto soend a shedload on something that wont work... can anyone offer assistance? Im willing to pay!!


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## molove

I remember seeing a Jamie and Jimmy's Friday Night Feast where Jimmy showed how to make a curing chamber by using a wine cooler and a humidifier.
 

Here's the instructions if you are interested.

http://www.jamieoliver.com/jimmycharcuterie/dmc.pdf

Piers


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## morrit

Yeah i have seen that one. Doesn't really tell you what to do though. Infact it dedicates more space to the disclaimer than on how to make it. Lol. Ill have a look on youtube for that episode tho...


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## wade

Hi Tristan

I did something similar with an 8' x 10' shed in my garden. You cannot be totally devoid of skills if you are going to convert your garage and they are not difficult to make. I have recently built a temperature and humidity controlled cold smoking / curing chamber from an old stainless steel catering freezer. There are two things to control - temperature and humidity - and there is a convenient control unit that does both of these. The TH20 Temperature and Humidity Controller costs about £22 and comes complete with humidity and temperature sensors and relay control. To control the heat inside the unit you can connect it to a couple of ceramic reptile heaters  and for the humidity to a misting humidifier. You will also need a variable speed control fan to regulate air flow through the unit.

Happy to help and offer advice. Where did you say you are in the UK?


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## smokin monkey

Hi Wade, the link to the Ceramic reptile heaters is wrong, it takes you to the PID Controller.


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## smokin monkey

Morrit said:


> Yeah i have seen that one. Doesn't really tell you what to do though. Infact it dedicates more space to the disclaimer than on how to make it. Lol. Ill have a look on youtube for that episode tho...



Hi Morrit, I have just purchased one of these, will arrive towards the end of the week. The additional Cold Smoke Kit and Drying fan come in around £50.00.

Coupled with Wade suggestions, should make a good alround Hot Smoker, Cold Smoker and Dryer.


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## wade

Smokin Monkey said:


> Hi Wade, the link to the Ceramic reptile heaters is wrong, it takes you to the PID Controller.


Thanks Steve - I have updated the link


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## smokin monkey

Not a problem Wade, do these work? What type of heat do they give out?


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## wade

For the bottom of my cold smoker I have made a stand that holds two of them Each are 150w and between them they will take the chamber up to 40+C. As I usually only need them to maintain 26-28 C for smoking/curing it handles this with ease.













Ceramic Heater 1.jpeg



__ wade
__ Dec 15, 2015






The smoking/curing cabinet is a converted 650 Litre stainless steel fridge chassis and the heaters just sit on the bottom













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__ wade
__ Dec 15, 2015


















u632-polar-heavy-duty-single-door-fridge-stainless



__ wade
__ Dec 15, 2015


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## morrit

Ah... when I say convert, I mean clear it out and put my smoker in there... no drilling or anything like that involved, and running an extension cable through there via the cat flap!  I'm based in Rugby, Warwickshire.  Alas...yes, I am devoid of such skills.  This is purely for a hobby point of view.  Plus, being disabled makes life a tad more difficult now. 

I've been looking at this site http://benstarr.com/blog/how-to-convert-a-refrigerator-for-curing-meat-or-aging-cheese as a likely candidate.  The wiring looks complicated though and the links are out of date/American.

It seems simple enough... but getting the right sensor to control the power is the technical bit, way I understand it is a humidifier and the fridge are connected to the sensor... if it gets too dry the sensor turns on the humidifier, if it gets too warm, the sensor turns the fridge on till it reaches the right temperature.  the set up of having a fan... I dunno... any fan would do really I guess, but a computer fan uses a lot less voltage than everything else so I would have to implement some sort of resister.

Help me Obe Wade Kenobi...you're my only hope...


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## morrit

Funnily enough I was looking at that sensor last night wondering if it was the right one to get...seems it is after all... I am probably only going to convert a small domestic fridge.  As for the fan, that could potentially be technical.  What if I paid you to build the tecchy stuff and I bought the fridge and then you send me the tecchy stuff and I plug and play??? I like plug and play... lol!


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## morrit

Smokin Monkey said:


> Hi Morrit, I have just purchased one of these, will arrive towards the end of the week. The additional Cold Smoke Kit and Drying fan come in around £50.00.
> 
> Coupled with Wade suggestions, should make a good alround Hot Smoker, Cold Smoker and Dryer.


Hi, thanks very much, I'm just looking to cure and age salami, I have a nice little set up hot/cold smoker (plus thats a wee bit out of my price range! lol).  Seems like only yesterday I bought 
Then moved onto this http://www.the-old-smokehouse.co.uk/products/PEETZ-Large-Cabinet-Smoker.html

and now have a larger version  and both the small and artisan version of the proQ smoke generator.  

Works perfectly for me.  Yet to try hot smoking though!  

But I have always been fascinated by fermented cured meats.  In my opinion its one of the finest ways to appreciate the flavour of meat, and I want to expand my horizons and make them.  

This community has been an invaluable source of support and help and I am so glad you are all here to help us amateurs, I only hope one day I can pass on my experience to a new generation.


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## wade

Morrit said:


> Funnily enough I was looking at that sensor last night wondering if it was the right one to get...seems it is after all... I am probably only going to convert a small domestic fridge.  As for the fan, that could potentially be technical.  What if I paid you to build the tecchy stuff and I bought the fridge and then you send me the tecchy stuff and I plug and play??? I like plug and play... lol!


Happy to help you with the "techie" stuff. We could possibly use it as a prototype for helping others who want to do something similar. Starting again I would actually do a couple of things differently.

The one downside of using the TH20 is that it has only one relay for temperature control. You can either set it to close when the probe gets too cold OR when it gets too hot. This means that we cannot use it to control both heating AND cooling together. I will look to see if there is another controller with two temperature relays. If not we may have to use a combination of controllers - but they are not expensive.

For a small fridge we will probably be able to get away with a smaller heater than the ones I used and we could use the fridge itself for the cooling.

The fan is easy enough as we would simply use a variable speed PC fan that are quite easy to attach.

Do you have a specific fridge in mind?


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## morrit

Whatever I can find really... A small domestic fridge, frost free would be the most ideal and likely the one most people would experiment to begin with.  They are cheap enough second hand.  Then folk could scale up as and when needed.  I imagine the atmospheric changes don't have to be immediate, as long as it's kept within a certain range for the most part.  I think if it;s to use as an example, stressing that this is only for home use and not commercial (there are plenty of commercial chambers out there, morbidly enough, these are mainly used by mortuaries/pathology labs).

What if we get 2 sensors, one controlling the humidity alone (only a thin wire through the door and would probably not affect the door seal) and another controlling the temperature of the fridge, but as fridges run at a lower temperature than we would require, then the fridge would have to be slaved into that, so it turns on when too warm, and off when too cold...

Does that make sense?


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## wade

I will drop a few idea to you in PM. We can continue here when we have something a little more concrete.


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## smokin monkey

Hi Morrit, if you need any Technical advise, please ask. I am a Refrigeration Engineer, so any questions regarding the fridge, fire away.

I would trace the wires that go to the internal fridge stat, and wire them to a PID so that controls at a higher temperature.


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## wade

Copied you in Steve


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## smokewood

I have just bought one of these, https://thesteakager.com

It might not be exactly what you are looking for, but you can't beat a dry aged steak


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## morrit

Wade has been beavering away on a build  and is sending it over soon. He is an absolute genius and I am super excited to get started. Best buy a fridge!!


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## morrit

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__ Mar 29, 2016


















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__ Mar 29, 2016





All this is ready for my mouldy pig bits 












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__ morrit
__ Mar 29, 2016





Biggest thanks to Wade and smokinmonkey for making this all possible.


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## wade

That looks like a good setup now - thanks for sharing the photos 
	

	
	
		
		



		
			






I see you have put one of the reptile ceramic heaters in the bottom too. You should be able to keep both the temperatures and humidity withing quite narrow ranges. Great work - well done.


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## morrit

Just had to check on it all the next day. About 22 hours later temperature and humidity have both stabilised perfectly. And it smells absolutely amazing!! Running at a stable 12.6° and a humidity level of 70 to 75.


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## mike w

Bump since this is awesome and thanks @Smokin Monkey for cluing me in.


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