My newest addition: Fridge for meat curing/thawing & how I set it up

[forluvofsmoke]

If you have limited refer space, limited space to set-up another refer and/or a somewhat limited budget as I do, this may be a good starter or add-on fridge idea for you.

I ordered this fridge just over a week ago after coming to the realization that my new interests in sausage and whole muscle meat curing was causing growing pains (in a good way). My outdoor kitchen side-by-side Q-refer is dormant right now because of the onset of winter being just around the corner. It was time for some expansion of refer space to accomodate for my expansion of horizons, and a very good cause for budgeting some additional equipment.

This is listed as a 4.5 cu ft (I read somewhere that it's actually 4.3), has 3 adjustable glass shelves with plastic trimmed front/rear edges, and a plastic tray underneath the freezer compartment, which is intended to disperse the cold more evenly down through the fridge compartment. I'll give it a test drive and see if it will fit my needs for my fast growing interests in meat curing.

I have a day-trip planned for Wednesday the 18th and will be grabbing any deals I can find for my smoking & curing addiction, so I may be able to load it up a bit and see what it will hold comfortably.

This fridge will be kept indoors year-round so I can keep a steady temp for my meats. It looks be large enough to handle about 40-50 lbs (depending on the size of cuts) without crowding or stacking, so that's a big plus, as I will eventually be curing/smoking that much at one time to better utilize my smoker space and my free time...load 'em up, I say...


Here's the first look after un-boxing and starting to set it up:



Energy Guide Label looks cheap enough to operate:



The Spec Label...hard to read this close-up cell-cam shot, but it only draws 1.5 amps...my Franklin Chef 2.5 cu ft draws 1.4 amps:


Here's some of what I'm doing for setup to monitor temps/humidity so I have some reassurance my products will remain safe during the thawing/curing processes...

A Thermometer/Hygrometer with resettable peak/low reading for each:



A wireless Thermometer Sensor:



And, the Remote Display for the above, with a local thermometer reading included...this will be strategically placed where I will walk past it several times daily and will have a temperature reading at a glance without opening the fridge door:




Of course, I like something cold to drink close-by, so I loaded the door before the fridge was cold enough to put my real goodies in:



What real goodies, you say? How about my current curing project...Corned Beef?:


All ready for her first week-long chilling job:



I set the 0-7 thermostat setting at 5 about 1 hour ago, and will get it leveled out for 34-36*. Hopefully it will be close by morning when I go to work. I just check temps and it's @ 36 already.........very cool, and very fast!!! Literally! Gotta back it off, maybe to 3-1/2 and see what happens.

I thought I'd share this in hopes of giving others a few ideas on what they can do for their meat smoking/curing fridge needs, as this med-small unit should be perfect for what I intend to use it for...with a family of 7 and Q-loving neighbors and co-workers as well.

Thanks all!

Wish me luck!

Eric

 

[bmudd14474]

Not a bad idea. Looks like you will have a sweet setup.

 

[ronp]

It sounds like you are on it. I got my fridge dialed in at 34'.

Good Luck with your new toy.

 

[beer-b-q]

Nice Fridge...

I have a Sanyo 4.3 cu ft. The only difference in mine than yours is Mine doesn't have a freezer...

I think you will love it...

 

[DanMcG]

I've been looking at small frig's for the exact same reason Eric. Not enough room in the kitchen frig when I'm defrosting and curing. let me know how it works out for ya. I looked at a couple 4.5's and they seemed like it might be on the small side. I'll have to check them out again.
What brand is yours?

 

[pops6927]

Does yours have a condenser coil on the back of it and compressor or is it solid state w/just a circulating fan?

 

[mballi3011]

You are smarter than the average cookie there Eric. I have one of those that was a beer frig in the office and it just sits there now. So I have just found my new meat curing / dry aging locker and I will be heading to the meat store today for for meat to dry age like Ron. Where did you get your temp/humity gauge from I will definatly need one of those for sure.

Oh boy I getting excited now and to think it was right under my nose all the time.

 

[fire it up]

Hmmmm.....never have that much refer on hand that I need more space

Great idea on a separate fridge for curing, corned beefs look like they are coming along nicely too.
Glad your addiction is growing Eric

 

[richoso1]

Looks like a well executed plan, thanks for sharing. You've given me a great idea.

 

[forluvofsmoke]

WOW...lot's of interest in this...I'm more than happy to pass on ideas to everyone. I knew I couldn't be the only one here getting into a pinch for fridge space.

Thanks Brian, it is doing great job so far.

Thanks Ron, I just got home and did the flip and massage of my corned beef and checked the peak/low temps in the fridge. Peak was 36.2*, which was lastnight while I was fine adjusting it. The low was 33.1* and was reading that when I checked it out, so it's right on target with a 69* room temperature, and the thermostat is set at 4.5 out of 7, so it's got much more cooling capacity for a higher room temp. It'll probably handle an 80-85* room temp and keep chugging away 33-36* fridge temp...gotta love it!

Thanks Paul, it is really nice to have a dedicatecd year-round meat fridge...I'm already in love...the day trip to Sam's etc. on Wednesday could prove to be a wealthy fridge freezer restocking...we'll see when I get there to check prices.

Thanks Dan, yeah it's a must for me...too big of a family for me to tie-up 1/4 to 1/3 of our domestic fridge with Q-meats. Having one just for me with no worries about damaged packaging, cross-contamination from leakage, etc...man, it's like a ton of weight off of my shoulders.

It is working beatifully so far...24 hours is recommended for stable temps...this took less than 4 hours.

This is the 4.5 cu ft GE from wally world...cost is $125.00 flat and I used site to store for free shipping...couldn't pass it up....I've checked out many, many compact units over the past couple of years and this was by far the best deal to be had anywhere. I think it's a fairly new item also, because my last check prior to finding this on-line was only about 2 months ago, and it wasn't available.

This is a standard refrigerant system...no thermoelectric circuits here, so the thermostat seems to be operating the compressor flawlessly...3*F offset in temp fluctuations according to my tattle-tale digital thermo....pretty fine line to dance on for a unit this small, especially with almost nothing in it for a thermal mass.

No circulating fan either, which will be great if I start doing fermented/cured/dried sausages, as there won't be a draft on the stuffed sausage to cause excessive drying on surfaces of the meat. That is a big plus right there. That also means one less thing to wear out down the road, so it should be a pretty dependable rig...how long the compressor will last, I'll just have to wait and see. I don't plan on moving this fridge around at all, so that should help increase it's service life as well.

Oh yeah Mark, put that refer to work! You'll love the benefits of a dedicated meat refer...I've been using a thermoelectric cooler for the past 6 weeks since the outdoor refer is too cold now. But this lil' bugger was trying to freeze my meats with a 68-70* room temp...tried using an automatic timer to do periodic shutdowns but 30 minutes off-time proved to be too much, and cooler temps would climb over 40*...meat temps were probably still below 40*, but without knowing for sure, I didn't want to risk it.

My Thermo/Hygrometer was from wally world also...bought on-line for 10 bucks...just looked for it now and doesn't seem to be available there anymore...it's a Springfield PreciseTemp with resettable peak/low readings for the temp/humidity.

The additional thermo I have with the remote display and wireless sensor was bought at our local wally world for I think 14 or 16 bucks...it may not be available in all locations as it was never listed on the net.

I bought both of these about 8-10 months ago, so availability is iffy at best, but, I'm sure there should be similar items somewhere on the net. I'll post links if I find anything.

ROFLMAO!!!!!!!!!

Yeah, it's trying to get the better of me, but I do have plans for ordering a small starter meat grinder in 3 months, along with some other much needed addiction supporting gear...then I have to work out a stuffer and meat mixer, and I'll be ready for ROCKIN' baby!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HEH-HEH-HEH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Working out great so far, Rich...only been 24 hours of run time, but no apparent issues...and you're most welcome!!!! That lil' baby is just chugging right along, perfectly.

I had hoped I would stir up some inspiration and creative thinking with this thread, that's the only reason I wrote it up. Share an idea and see who can benefit from it...gotta keep the rest of both of my familys happy when I can, eh?

Thanks for the interest guys, you will definately enjoy having an extra fridge around for all your smoking needs, especially if you're doing larger batches as I've been lately.

I love it already and I don't even have a decent load in it yet...just thinking about the possibilities with this new toy has my wheels turning almost constantly...with any luck, I will have it loaded up Wednesday night or the next day with more curing action going on!!!!

If you guys aren't against buying at wally world, this is a hot item right now, so availability will be off and on as the stock starts to become depleted. 125 bucks is nothing for a fridge nowdays, either. I don't buy from them it I don't get a good deal, and this is a sweet one.

Here's the web page if you'd like a closer look:

http://www.walmart.com/GE-Compact-Re...er/ip/10098025


BTW, I had to put my ear against the door to be sure it was running lastnight, with only the equipment for a 45 gallon aquarium in the room that made any noise at all. This thing's really quiet.

Enjoy!

Eric

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I've got a fair amount of meats in it now, in prep for my chix sausage, 'strami, jerky and turkey smokes in the next couple of days.

The goods consist of a 22.5# turkey, 9# of cured corned beef packer brisket, 3.75# sliced round tip cured for jerky, and 12# of cured sweet garlic pepper chicken sausage...total is 47.5# and room to spare that is party filled with sodas, not including the door space.

I won't put thawed/curing meats in the door, as that would not be the wisest choice...with most fridges, the door is the warmest area in the unit, and also, it's difficult to catch meat drippings from store packaging so you don't make a mess...my sodas are so cold they're like they came out of an iced cooler, so maybe this fridge has good cooling all the way throughout. I think I'll put a couple of my analog dial fridge therms in the door and find out what the temps are for later reference...didn't think much about door temps 'til now.

I couldn't fit the large bird in the bottom for thawing, as the compressor space takes up a bit of the area down there. So, I had to put it on top and dial the thermostat down a bit and let the cold from the thawing bird help to chill the other goods. A 13-14# turkey looked like would fit in that area, or a couple large yard birds...I have a few in the freezer that I may check the fit on in a couple of days.


I re-arranged the shelves and put one up on top just under the freezer compartment to accomodate for the bird. The corned beef and jerky are directly under the bird, and are fully cured, so stacking them up was not an issue...I don't stack meats during the curing process though.








Oops! I gotta get a drip pan under that bird ASAP...

I'll be back if I have anything new to report.

Thanks

Eric

 

[forluvofsmoke]

I hung 3 fridge therms in the door in various places, and after 2 days found that the door temps are at least as cold as the middle shelf section...very cool to know, as I can thaw smaller air-tight packaged meats there with no worries at all.

After a great day of smoking today, my fridge is almost empty...(sniff-sniff) I have nothing left to smoke except the mostly thawed 22.5# bird the day before Thanksgiving.





The besty part is, with having this small fridge for thawing and curing my smokin' goodies, I was able to pull off all my planned smoks today without a hitch, and will have about 22# of finished meats in the fridge/freezer to snack on for a few more weeks...and tomarrow looks like a winner, too!

Now, I will be forced to scavenge through my Q-freezer for something to smoke for dinner on my next days-off work! LOL!!! Can't let the smokers sit cold for too long at a time, ya know!

Thanks!

Eric