Dry Cure Cabinet

[NePaSmoKer]

1 frost free fridge....Check
1 humidifier W/fan.......Check
1 humidifier control...Soon
1 hygrometer...check
Loads of electric boxes, plugs and wire.....check
1 temp controller.....check


Prob get this made after we get back from NOLA

[Quarlow]

Very cool Rick.

[KyNola]

When you going to NOLA Rick? ;)

[NePaSmoKer]

When you going to NOLA Rick? ;)

;D

Heading out on 4/21. Going to do a 2 day stay in Fayetteville NC to visit sons and get CT and other goodies then heading south.

[ExpatCanadian]

Can't wait to see what you come up with!

[porterdriver]

Along this same line, I am trying to assemble the parts for a dry cure cabinet.  I am excited to get into this phase of charcuterie.

My question is accuracy of the equipment.  I am nervous about controlling temperature and humidity as all that I have read says temp/RH make or break the dry-cure process.

So to that end, I currently have an Accurite wireless temp/RH, a LaCrosse temp/RH, and an analog 'refrigerator' thermometer & an analog RH meter (calibrated to a lab standard; reads low by 3.5% at 70°F).  I am using this in a frost-free Kenmore refrigerator just to get a "feel" for temp and humidity control.

I am plotting the readings up to three times daily.  I then compare the Accurite to the LaCrosse (A/L) and the Accurite to the analog equipment (A/A).

What I am finding is that I get pretty good agreement between instruments with the temperatures.  The highest difference (A/L) in reading is +8.1%; averages around -0.2%.  The highest difference (A/A) in reading is -8.8%; averages around -5.5%

Humidity readings seem to much less consistent however.  The highest difference (A/L) reading is -22.7%; average is -0.5%.  he highest difference (A/A) reading is -33.3%; average is +7.5%.

So now I come to the questions.  I will be using a Green Air Products THC-1 to control humidity in the chamber.  It has a dial that allows you to set either humidify (floor) or dehumidify (ceiling) levels.  It's stated accuracy is 7%.
     Question 1)  How tightly does temperature and humidity need to be controlled?  If it says hold at 50°F & 60%RH, what swings are acceptable?
     Question 2)  Which is more critical higher or lower temps?  Higher or lower RH?
     Question 3)  Do I need to use any of these other devices to 'read' the humidity or is the THC-1 sufficient?  I would like to use the Accurite wireless as a way of monitoring the inside of the cabinet without opening it.

[ExpatCanadian]

My question is accuracy of the equipment.  I am nervous about controlling temperature and humidity as all that I have read says temp/RH make or break the dry-cure process.

As someone who has gone down this road...  it is easy at the beginning to overly obsess about the accuracy of the equipment and start thinking like you need gear that comes with calibration certificates or it's no good.... but in all reality you just need to remember that in the areas of the world where charcuterie is still produced in traditional ways...  the drying happens in the open air and is therefore subject to normal variations!  They control the temperature and humidity by knowing what time of year the right conditions occur and make their products then.  When trying to recreate the conditions artificially yourself, yes... for sure you need to watch your temperature and humidity and try to match as closely as possible with the equipment you have, but don't worry too much about swings...  without spending 1000's of $$$ you won't be able to control them too tightly and in reality as long as you're close you'll still produce a very high quality end result.  In my experience, the temperature is fairly straightforward to control....  but RH is still my nemesis....  I can only reliably get about +/-5% at around 65^oC...  that's a 10% range....  but it works fine for me...

[porterdriver]

Oh sure, just like you to come by and ruin a perfectly good OCD rant with logic and calm!!!!!!

XPat, thanks though for the reassurance.  This whole process is so new to me, I'm still second-guessing myself at every turn.

[NePaSmoKer]

Here is what i have. Going to get started in May building it up.

Fridge in the garage.

Cool mist ultrasonic humidifier.



Wired temp/humi with probe.



Humidity controller (white) and Johnson control temp controller.


All my other items not shown.
Reptile heater for the fermenting. Avail at just about any larger pets mart places.
new 12/2 cords
weaterproof boxes and plugs.

[OU812]

and stocked up on Peeps.  :D

[NePaSmoKer]

and stocked up on Peeps.  :D

Oh crap

My secret is out.

[DisplacedCoonass]

What type of reptile heater are you using for this?  The electric stick-on heating pad or the ceramic heat bulb?

[NePaSmoKer]

What type of reptile heater are you using for this?  The electric stick-on heating pad or the ceramic heat bulb?

The enclosed ceramic heat lamp. You will need a ceramic light socket for this.

[mikeradio]

I purchased the TW-USB-2-LCD from thermoworks, it is a temp/hum logger.  Set it up and place it in your cabinet and it will log the readings every 1,5,30 min  whichever you select and then you download the data and it grahps it for you.  It works every well and you get a great picture of what is happening with the temps and humidity.

Heres a link   http://www.thermoworks.com/products/logger/usb_loggers.html

[mikeradio]

Heres a graph of my temps and humidity from my data logger