Having trouble lowering the humitity in my dry cure chamber

[MeatSkull]

100# is a lot for a first try!

 

[Robert S. Julian Sr.]

Holly, your chamber look real good very similar to the one I made ecepte I dropped extension cords down the inside vice installing outlet boxes. Update on the batches of 50 lbs of pepperoni and salami I made. I still can't taste the difference between the two of them. I gave some away and been snacking on them quite a bit. There is a down side went to the doctor yesterday she said I gained 4 lbs. I have been on a no carb diet. I have to lose weight to get control of my blood sugar. I guess that the saying if it taste good, I shouldn't eat it. I recon the sausage my eventually kill me. I make a variety of sausages from deer meat during hunting season here in Virginia.

 

[daveomak]

Robert, morning... If you are using a filler in your sausage, they are mostly carbs... stop..... And drink whiskey in place of beer when eating them... No carbs in whiskey...

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Do you have a fan inside the chamber for air circulation ?? you should... That's an important part of drying the meat...

I have a small fan that emits 4 cubic feet per minute... not enough to promote case hardening, but enough to move the air.... I do use a dorm fridge... you may need a fan that moves more air.. maybe 5-10 CFM...

Dave, I have a small fan that I was going to connect this to... I'm thinking it should work ok! To prevent case hardening, maybe set it up to have the fan come on every 4 hrs or so for 15 min to circulate the air around.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/slredirec...4726210&id=6443222325668266&widgetName=sp_atf

 

[daveomak]

That should work... Check the CFM of the fan... This is a guess but, I think the fan should put out about the volume of the fridge every minute... so, a 10 cu. ft. refer would use a fan about 10 CFM... Case hardening will screw up a very lovely hunk of meat... So, at 10 CFM, maybe run it for 15 minutes would be OK, every 4 hours... You are attempting to aid in the removal of surface moisture, to prevent an environment for mold growth and aid in the drying process...

Air Speed Air speed is a factor that helps remove moisture and stale air, and of course it influences drying. Sausages will dry faster at higher temperatures, but in order to prevent the growth of bacteria, drying must be performed at lower levels, generally between 59-53º F, 15-12º C. The speed of drying does not remain constant, but changes throughout the process: it is the fastest during the beginning of fermentation, then it slows down to a trickle. At the beginning of fermentation humidity is very high due to the high moisture content of the sausage. When starter cultures are used, the temperature is at the highest during fermentation which speeds up moisture escape from the sausage. The surface of the sausage contains a lot of moisture which must be constantly removed otherwise slime might appear. If the sausages are soaking wet during fermentation, the humidity should be lowered. At the beginning of fermentation the fastest air speed is applied, about 0.8 - 1.0 m/sec. The speed of 3.6 km/h (2.2 mile/hour) corresponds to the speed of 1 meter/second. Ideally, the amount of removed moisture should equal the amount of moisture moving to the surface. To control air speed in improvised chambers such as a refrigerator is surprisingly easy. The most reliable device is a computer cooling fan as it is designed for working 24 hours a day. There is a huge variety of these fans and they come in different sizes, shapes and power outputs. They can be obtained at Radio Shack® or at any computer store. The current draw of a typical 3” 12 VDC, 1.9 W fan is only 0.1 A. It runs from a 115 VAC adapter and the beauty of the design is that the adapter’s output can be set to 12, 9, 7.5 or 6 VDC with a built in mini switch. Each voltage setting lets the fan run at a different speed and quite a sophisticated system is created. If only a fixed DC output voltage adapter is available, a simple, inexpensive and universally available device called a “potentiometer” can be attached between the fan and the adapter. The device will control the fan’s speed.

Marianski, Stanley. Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages (Kindle Locations 9648-9664). Bookmagic LLC. Kindle Edition.

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

That should work... Check the CFM of the fan... This is a guess but, I think the fan should put out about the volume of the fridge every minute... so, a 10 cu. ft. refer would use a fan about 10 CFM... Case hardening will screw up a very lovely hunk of meat... So, at 10 CFM, maybe run it for 15 minutes would be OK, every 4 hours... You are attempting to aid in the removal of surface moisture, to prevent an environment for mold growth and aid in the drying process...

Air Speed Air speed is a factor that helps remove moisture and stale air, and of course it influences drying. Sausages will dry faster at higher temperatures, but in order to prevent the growth of bacteria, drying must be performed at lower levels, generally between 59-53º F, 15-12º C. The speed of drying does not remain constant, but changes throughout the process: it is the fastest during the beginning of fermentation, then it slows down to a trickle. At the beginning of fermentation humidity is very high due to the high moisture content of the sausage. When starter cultures are used, the temperature is at the highest during fermentation which speeds up moisture escape from the sausage. The surface of the sausage contains a lot of moisture which must be constantly removed otherwise slime might appear. If the sausages are soaking wet during fermentation, the humidity should be lowered. At the beginning of fermentation the fastest air speed is applied, about 0.8 - 1.0 m/sec. The speed of 3.6 km/h (2.2 mile/hour) corresponds to the speed of 1 meter/second. Ideally, the amount of removed moisture should equal the amount of moisture moving to the surface. To control air speed in improvised chambers such as a refrigerator is surprisingly easy. The most reliable device is a computer cooling fan as it is designed for working 24 hours a day. There is a huge variety of these fans and they come in different sizes, shapes and power outputs. They can be obtained at Radio Shack® or at any computer store. The current draw of a typical 3” 12 VDC, 1.9 W fan is only 0.1 A. It runs from a 115 VAC adapter and the beauty of the design is that the adapter’s output can be set to 12, 9, 7.5 or 6 VDC with a built in mini switch. Each voltage setting lets the fan run at a different speed and quite a sophisticated system is created. If only a fixed DC output voltage adapter is available, a simple, inexpensive and universally available device called a “potentiometer” can be attached between the fan and the adapter. The device will control the fan’s speed.

Marianski, Stanley. Home Production of Quality Meats and Sausages (Kindle Locations 9648-9664). Bookmagic LLC. Kindle Edition.

Thanks for the info Dave, very much appreciated! I'm going to check into one of them computer cooling fans! Thanks again!