What is the most efficient way to dry / dehydrate whole steak roasts in a fridge

rbaghd

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Original poster

Nov 22, 2015

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• Nov 22, 2015

• #1

I had trouble drying steak roasts in my commercial fridge..

Fridge powered by a 2/3 hp compressor, exposed coils/ drain, and no fan as seen below.

With a little research, i discovered the light bulb trick: I ran a 200 w light bulb during the day and switched it off at night.

i got better results, but still not dry enough. i noticed the lower part of the roast dries out fast while the top is still wet. Turning it upside down to get even dryness got the top dry part wet again..

After a month, i got the power bill and wasn't too happy with that either.

Is there a more efficient way to do this? any modification that could help? any tips/ ideas?

Appreciate your feedback

fridge.jpeg

• rbaghd
• Nov 22, 2015

 

L

lamar

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Sep 17, 2013

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Bridgton Me

• Nov 22, 2015

• #2

The amount of frost on the coil indicates to me that there is an awful amount of moisture in the cooler...........possibly from opening the door too often and letting more in. Is this cooler dedicated to drying this meat, or general purpose and often used?

 

daveomak

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Omak,Washington,U.S.A.

• Nov 22, 2015

• #3

What are the final results you want of the meat.... Dry like chipped beef, beef jerky etc....

 

rbaghd

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Nov 22, 2015

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• Nov 22, 2015

• #4

photo taken after 200 w light bulb has been running all day. Now i turn off the fridge for 30 min to defrost (manual defrost). Turn it back on and let it run all night with light bulb off.

fridge2.jpeg

• rbaghd
• Nov 22, 2015

 

rbaghd

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Nov 22, 2015

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• Nov 22, 2015

• #5

Lamar said:

The amount of frost on the coil indicates to me that there is an awful amount of moisture in the cooler...........possibly from opening the door too often and letting more in. Is this cooler dedicated to drying this meat, or general purpose and often used?

Click to expand...

Dear Lamar,

Yes, cooler dedicated to drying this meat. Not opened too often, only few times a day. the fresh steak roasts i get here are a bit moist i guess.

 

rbaghd

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Nov 22, 2015

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• Nov 22, 2015

• #6

DaveOmak said:

What are the final results you want of the meat.... Dry like chipped beef, beef jerky etc....

Click to expand...

Dear Dave,

The roast needs to be dry enough to run through a deli slicer and get thinly sliced. As dry as chipped beef (or Bresaola) would be good I think.