I have been wanting to make dry cured salamis and similar foods, but here in southern Colorado, the humidity is nearly non existent, and that presents a problem in trying to make such types of food. So I have been doing a bit of reading and have come up with some materials to make a "sausage humidor", if you will!
I have dubbed it "El Sausagador". My friend built the box for me from 3/8" MDF and with the help of a laser engraver, engraved the wording and graphics right into the sides of the box. The box was cut with the laser as well, as well as all penetrations. My brother did the wiring between the controllers and outlets and I did all the tidy work, looming the wires, adding a bus bar and the exterior power cord.
The temp controller should be able to hold the fridge at a specified temp +/- 7 degrees and the humidifying circuits should be able to hold a +/- 5% humidity percentage.
The way that the controllers work is to control the outlet power to your appliances. You turn your fridge on all the way cold and the controller will switch power on/off to the outlet. The same goes for the humidity controller. I will turn my humidifier all the way to "max" and let the controller turn the unit on/off at the outlet. It should be a relatively low maintenance controller. Just plug in your desired temp and humidity and it should take care of the rest. My humidifier will be outside with this case so any maintenance like adding water can all be done without opening the door!
Front Side
Right Side
Left Side
Back Side
Each outlet has been individually split to allow independent control of various appliances. So the refrigerator will plug into the "cooling appliance" circuit, a 100W light bulb will plug into the "heating appliance" circuit, a humidifier will plug into the "humidify appliance" circuit, and an exhaust fan will plug into the "dehumidify appliance" circuit.
I haven't tied any of this into the refrigerator yet, but wanted to post this up, cuz I'm kinda proud of it! More pics to follow when I get it tied into the fridge!
I have dubbed it "El Sausagador". My friend built the box for me from 3/8" MDF and with the help of a laser engraver, engraved the wording and graphics right into the sides of the box. The box was cut with the laser as well, as well as all penetrations. My brother did the wiring between the controllers and outlets and I did all the tidy work, looming the wires, adding a bus bar and the exterior power cord.
The temp controller should be able to hold the fridge at a specified temp +/- 7 degrees and the humidifying circuits should be able to hold a +/- 5% humidity percentage.
The way that the controllers work is to control the outlet power to your appliances. You turn your fridge on all the way cold and the controller will switch power on/off to the outlet. The same goes for the humidity controller. I will turn my humidifier all the way to "max" and let the controller turn the unit on/off at the outlet. It should be a relatively low maintenance controller. Just plug in your desired temp and humidity and it should take care of the rest. My humidifier will be outside with this case so any maintenance like adding water can all be done without opening the door!
Each outlet has been individually split to allow independent control of various appliances. So the refrigerator will plug into the "cooling appliance" circuit, a 100W light bulb will plug into the "heating appliance" circuit, a humidifier will plug into the "humidify appliance" circuit, and an exhaust fan will plug into the "dehumidify appliance" circuit.
I haven't tied any of this into the refrigerator yet, but wanted to post this up, cuz I'm kinda proud of it! More pics to follow when I get it tied into the fridge!
