Fridge salami Experiment

[aris]

I was looking in the Argos catalogue - it gives stats on how much electricity each of their fridges use (they don't seem to post this info on the online catalogue). Some were more efficient than others, but none had an 'A' efficiency rating. Some of the A rated larder fridges actually used less electricity than the 50L beer chillers.

Example - p 638 of Argos catalogue:

Cheapest 117 litre larder fridge (no freezer section) - uses 146kWh per year. Costs 99 pounds.

p650 of Argos catalogue, 89.99 for a 40litre beer cooler (with water dispenser) uses 602kWh per year. On same page, a beer chller which looks similar to yours - 292kWh per year. The extra 10 quid would pay for itself in electricity in a year! The most efficient one on the page was 219kWh per year - costs 129.99, but all are less efficient than the larger 117 litre fridge above.

Basically - buyer beware. If you have the space, get something more efficient - even if it is larger.

[Oddley]

aris thanks for the info. I suppose it is something to keep in mind. My beer chiller costs, if I have it on all the time 292 kwh/year

Which works out at
12.15p per KW so 292 * 12.15 = �35.48p per year.
Or
68p per week.

So for economical reasons, it would be best to get the most efficient unit you can find.

[aris]

12p per kWh sounds a bit steep - have you shopped around?

[Oddley]

Happy where I am thankyou.

[aris]

Fair enough - but one should be paying more like 7 or 8 p - unless you are on a green tariff.

[Oddley]

aris money is not the only consideration. I could save about �100 per year but would not get the same level of service.

I have been with other companies, and have had nothing but aggravation.

[Oddley]

I have just received my mini low water fogger from maplin online. After some experimentation, I reckon that after the humidity levels off, it should only need to be turned on for a minute or so every 15 - 30 min's.

I'll now start working on the timer.

[Platypus]

Just looked on Maplin's site abd they have the mini shalow fogger @ �14.99 but the Designer lamp and fogger is only �9.99

[aris]

Oddley,

Did you try the salt water trick in your fridge? It would be interesting to see what your hygrometer shows the relative humidity in there with the salt.

[Oddley]

Hi aris. No I have not had the time, what with one thing and another. I have to, over the next couple of day's, design the timer circuit for the fogger on my computer , so I can test it before building.

[aris]

No problem. If anyone else has the ability to test this, it would be interesting to see. My domestic frost-free fridge has a humidity level of 45% which is way too low. When I can clear up some space in my garage, i'm going to get a 2nd fridge for curing.

[Paul Kribs]

I decided to make a kilo of chorizo in a similar way to Oddley using the mini-fogger. Not ideal conditions, but after two days the fridge stabalised and was showing between 60%RH and 74%RH with a temp range of 14C to 16C. Bit of a dilemma really cos the cider in the salad tray isn't cold enough. I made a small fan using a 12v motor, but found it made the water evaporate and condense leaving puddles in the fridge and thus needing topping up of the bucket every 8 hours. I opted not to use the fan.
It has only been 6 days so far and they are drying OK using the fogger method. We shall see.


I have noted that as the fridge stabalised so the cooler element started to form more ice, even though I have only had to add one cupful of water.
The 'lump' hanging on the right is a venison haunch proscuitto attempt.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Platypus]

Hi Paul,

Do you keep the fogger on all the time or is it switched on/off occasionally?

The bucket seems to take up most of the fridge space, is this size needed for the water resevior or is it just what you had available?

Just a thought, but if the fogger was in a shallow tray in the top of the fridge the mist would naturally fall past the chorizos keeping their local humidity higher and possibly allowing you to use the fogger less.

[Paul Kribs]

Platypus

I have tried with a shallow tray and due to the way the fogger works it tends to spit water all over and it doesn't necessarily drop back into the tray. The tray tested was the 2" deep acrylic butchers tray you can see on the top shelf, which covers most of the shelf but the water still finds a way past. As you can see by the bucket, the top half shows quite a substantial amount of water droplets. BTW, the bucket is a very handy size, bought on the off-chance by my better half. It is big enough to brine 4 venison haunches or one fair sized boned out pork leg, or any other pork joint... it also has a tight fitting lid.. and didn't cost ME a dime

The fogger is left on all the time. I take the point about the fog/mist naturally falling. I need to give it some thought, but I don't feel the fan is the answer. Thanks for the suggestions.

Regards, Paul Kribs

[Oddley]

Hi Paul, thanks for the update. I'm having a bit of trouble finding time, to do any experimentation, even being semi retired.

I have abandoned the timer idea to control the fogger, and found a way of making a humidity sensor from believe it or not, a piece of blotting paper, salt, saltpetre and water. All rather Heath Robinson but has peaked my interest. I found the concept in an old electronics mag.

As my fridge is much smaller than yours, I need to control the fogger or the humidity would be much too high.