Cure Chamber Fan Question

[Kizer]

My curing chamber is coming along great! I have installed almost all of the components. The last thing I need to do is install the fan for fresh air exchange. My plan is to plug it into a timer so that it runs for 3-5 minutes twice daily.

Here is the question. Do I want to push air into the chamber with the fan, or pull it out?

I will be mounting the fan on the bottom side of the fridge and opening up some small holes in the upper left side of the fridge for air flow.


Thanks!

[wheels]

I'm not sure that I'd do either until I saw how the fridge performed without.

Phil

[Kizer]

I'm not sure that I'd do either until I saw how the fridge performed without.

Phil

Oh Really. I appreciate you telling me that, saves me a lot of work if I don't need it.

thanks!

[Kizer]

I did a dry run on the chamber yesterday, without the fan, and it seemed to be working perfectly!

Another question about the fan.

How do I know I need it? Is it important to circulate new air into the chamber occasionally? I am sure that while I am home I will check on the meats daily, but occasionally I am gone from home for a week, and have to be confident that all is well in the chamber.

[JLPicard]

My curing chamber is coming along great! I have installed almost all of the components. The last thing I need to do is install the fan for fresh air exchange. My plan is to plug it into a timer so that it runs for 3-5 minutes twice daily.

Here is the question. Do I want to push air into the chamber with the fan, or pull it out?

I will be mounting the fan on the bottom side of the fridge and opening up some small holes in the upper left side of the fridge for air flow.


Thanks!

Any Pics?

[Kizer]

My curing chamber is coming along great! I have installed almost all of the components. The last thing I need to do is install the fan for fresh air exchange. My plan is to plug it into a timer so that it runs for 3-5 minutes twice daily.

Here is the question. Do I want to push air into the chamber with the fan, or pull it out?

I will be mounting the fan on the bottom side of the fridge and opening up some small holes in the upper left side of the fridge for air flow.


Thanks!

Any Pics?

Ya, here they are!

http://forum.sausagemaking.org/viewtopic.php?t=9779

[shags]

Yo. Looks like a great setup. Well done. Air should always be drawn out of the container. Inlet holes are required of course.

[Wunderdave]

One sign you'll see to indicate you might need a fan is if the sausages you hang to dry develop a slimy, wet coating. I think this is symptomatic of a lack of air exchange. But, you can create air exchange by opening the door 1/2x per day instead of installing a fan.

[wheels]

I don't deny that air movement is helpful - but it can be counter-productive. I don't think that I'm the only one that has found that it led to case hardening. I now just have a couple of vents in the fridge, I don't use the fan although it remains fitted.

The other thing that may need considering is the effect on the RH of the chamber. What's the ambient RH - don't forget that it will increase if it cools on entering the fridge.

I'm not saying not to fit a fan - but proceed with caution!

Phil

edited for typo.

[Wunderdave]

I don't think that I'm the only one thathasa found that it led to case hardening.

yup

[Kaiser Soze]

You can attach an LED dimmer (http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/LED-Light-Dimmer-Brightness-Adjustable-Control-12V-8A-/170723001818?pt=AU_Lighting_Fans&hash=item27bfe245da) to a PC fan to slow it right down. I have a PC fan just ticking over inside my fridge to ensure that the air is evenly circulated and that there's no cold/warm/humid/dry spots. I don't have any holes in my fridge, but I do check on my babies at least once a day.

[Kizer]

I did not put the fan in and my chorizo turned out great, with no hardening or strange mold growth. The Coppa is coming along fine as well. I am glad that I did not put one in, at least at the moment.

[wheels]

You can have the best of both worlds. Put one in but don't necessarily turn it on!

Phil

[JLPicard]

Another thing you can do is to wire in a lower voltage DC converter to a 12V fan. I have a lot of electronics and computer stuff in boxes that I don't like to throw away. I salvaged a 12VDC fan out of one of the old computers I have and wired a 9VDC, black-box-plug-in-the-wall charger that I had from something. The fan runs much slower than designed but enough to give me positive air flow in my smoker, not curing chamber mind you.

Another thing you may consider is to get one of those adjustable voltage chargers, the one with the little slide switch on the side, they typically go from something like 3 volts up to 12 volts and have a multi-connector adapter on the end. Its a universal charger. With that you can then control the speed simply by sliding the switch up and down to the speed you require.