Question About Chamber Air Circulation

Air dried cured Meat Techniques

Question About Chamber Air Circulation

Postby IkeO » Tue Oct 28, 2014 3:31 pm

Hello,

I have a question about air circulation inside the curing chamber.

I recently picked up a True GDM-19 Commercial Cooler on craigslist and I am in the process of building it up as my curing chamber. I wanted people's advice on air circulation. I'm trying to get away with adding as little devices as possible inside the chamber. So I was wondering if i can utilize the fan that is already built inside the cooler.

A lot of folks i see use a fan inside their chamber but I noticed that this cooler when turned on has a great fan that sucks up through the top, across the cooling coils and blows back down through the back wall inside the cooler. it moves enough air that air is moving throughout the entire unit, while its turned on and running of course.

Under the control of my external temperature controller the chamber turns on i would say for 1 minute every 15 minutes or so. during this 1 minute the fan is blowing and circulating the air inside the chamber.

Is this enough air movement to be considered decent circulation for curing? Doing some searching I see some folks say you need to circulate just a bit, some say you need to pipe in fresh air, and some say you just need a fan inside the chamber running constantly.

Thanks,

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Re: Question About Chamber Air Circulation

Postby johngaltsmotor » Tue Oct 28, 2014 4:19 pm

There are a couple of things going on during drying with respect to air.
Yes, you want circulation so that the moisture on the surface is evaporated into the air in order to dry the sausage. Too fast of evaporation (high speed air) can cause issues (eg case hardening). You also want enough circulation so that the air inside is uniform (not pockets of warm/cold, moist/dry).

As far as the notion of drawing in outside air - that is typically done in order to reduce the humidity content inside. If you hang sausage in a closed chamber with no way to expel the moisture drawn out of the sausage you will grow funk as the moisture condenses on the walls. If the cooling coils drip into a drain that exits outside you may be okay in this respect.

My controller is still under development (having family electronics guys is nice, but leads to long delays in progress), but I have it set to initially run the fan for 1 min every 30min, plus anytime it calls for heat/cool/humidify/dehumidify it runs for 2min to stir the air to ensure its uniform before making a change.

Every unit is slightly different so the best advice is to try it as is and don't be too mad if the first batch doesn't survive. When it comes to home drying chambers it is much easier to try something and revise it than to calculate the ideal solution the first time.
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Re: Question About Chamber Air Circulation

Postby DiggingDogFarm » Tue Oct 28, 2014 5:16 pm

johngaltsmotor wrote:Every unit is slightly different so the best advice is to try it as is and don't be too mad if the first batch doesn't survive. When it comes to home drying chambers it is much easier to try something and revise it than to calculate the ideal solution the first time.


I agree.
I use a small DC fan with a speed control that pushes air from the bottom of the chamber through a tube to the top of the chamber for air circulation and temperature/humidity equalization.
Moisture is removed via a dessicate.



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Re: Question About Chamber Air Circulation

Postby wheels » Tue Oct 28, 2014 6:39 pm

johngaltsmotor wrote:Every unit is slightly different so the best advice is to try it as is and don't be too mad if the first batch doesn't survive. When it comes to home drying chambers it is much easier to try something and revise it than to calculate the ideal solution the first time.


I'd also like to say what brilliant advice this is.

Get the temperature correct, but don't do anything else until you can monitor it with produce in the chamber - it makes a massive difference.

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Re: Question About Chamber Air Circulation

Postby DiggingDogFarm » Tue Oct 28, 2014 8:37 pm

wheels wrote:
johngaltsmotor wrote:Every unit is slightly different so the best advice is to try it as is and don't be too mad if the first batch doesn't survive. When it comes to home drying chambers it is much easier to try something and revise it than to calculate the ideal solution the first time.


I'd also like to say what brilliant advice this is.

Get the temperature correct, but don't do anything else until you can monitor it with produce in the chamber - it makes a massive difference.

Phil


I wholeheartedly agree.


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