Dry Curing Cabinet - In Development.

[Habanero Smoker]

Thanks! That's great of you to do that.

[Ironsnapper]

Hi everyone: This is my first post. Am I ever glad I signed in as I have been currently working on my own curing cabinet project. Thanks for your posts Habs.  I never considered the issue of having to much humidity. My plans only included bringing up the humidity. Back  to the drawing board.
The hydroponic places seem to have the best and most reasonable controls. I hope no one from work sees me there. Check this one out it can control both a humidifier and a dehumidifier.
http://www.randmsupply.com/productdisp.php?pid=113&navid=6
Items gathered so far
1/ PID controller will control both a heater (reptile light) and a cooling unit (freezer). Bought on ebay used a few years ago for another smoker control project, just need to figure out how to wire it LOL $40
2/ Humidifier ebay $20
3/ Stand up freezer Kijiji $40 
4/ Reptile light Kijiji $10
5/ 2 computer fans and a 12 volt plug with variable voltage to adjust speed. I will cut 2 holes for them, 1 in and 1 out. Free old PC's
Need to find a place in Canada to purchase the humidity controller. I will be sure to post updates.

[Habanero Smoker]

Hi Ironsnapper;

Welcome to the forum.

High humidity is seldom mention. Even with the smallest amount of sausage or meat in the cabinet the humidity was around 80%, and had to be frequently controlled.

That Temperature/Humidity Controller looks like a nice find, let me know how that works. I downloaded the manual and will take a look at it later.

I had considered a pet lamp, but could only find ones that used radiant heat. I was concerned that with radiant heat the sausage temperature may get higher then the air temperature. For example if the air temperature obtained the set 85°F, and the sausage was actually 100°F then depending on what culture you are using, that temperature my inhibit the growth of kill the bacteria. So that is another piece of equipment that I would like to know if it would work. I only need the heat during fermentation.

Also could you post a link to the PID you are using, and if it is capable of running both a heating or cooling device.

I don't want to cut any holes in my refrigerator, since I still want to use it for refrigeration during the summer months. I just got my dehumidifier and will be giving that a test run some time this week.

Definitely let us know about your progress.

[teach]

Hi all

Just bought temp controller both heating and cooling and 2 humidity controllers from here

www.forttex.com

I know they are in the uk  but may ship to USand Canada.  Very helpful and good range of kit.  Will post pics of cabinet as soon as it is up and running.


Thanks Habs for starting this thread and leading the way it has been very useful.

[3rensho]

teach,

Thanks for the link.  Been looking for something on this side of the pond.

[Ironsnapper]

Sure thing I will post some pics of the PID on the weekend. I am pretty sure it will control both heat and cooling units. I might require some assistance wiring it. I have to pull it out of the loft in the garage.
It's easy to find as it is in the same box as my 2 Bradley smoke generators.
On my last post I actually sent a link for the wrong product.

Here is the right one.
This one is strictly for humidification. You can plug in both a humidifier and a dehumidifier or fan to two separate outlets and lock in your humidity.

Snapper

[anderson5420]

After a month now, I can tell you with confidence that the 3.5" protein lined casings do in fact shrink and maintain good contact with the meat.  They look great. I am not home right now, but will post some pix. 

If you can tell by feel, then you don't have to go through the extra step of weighing them.

Let me know how those casings work out. I didn't want to use that type until I knew for sure that those type of casings would shrink and keep good contact with the meat as they dried out.

[Habanero Smoker]

Thanks for the update. I may switch to the 3.5 casing, but I have a lot of hog middles to use up first.  :)