OK to use a freezer for drying chamber conversion?

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OK to use a freezer for drying chamber conversion?

Postby SausageParty » Fri Oct 18, 2013 11:29 pm

Now that I'm getting more ambitious (I want to make a ham) and also want to start making stinky cheese I've outgrown the little wine fridge I've been drying meats in.

I've got a full size upright freezer I'm not using. Is there any reason this shouldn't work to make a drying chamber? I plan to rig a thermostat and hygrostat up like this.

My (limited) understanding is that a freezer is just a fridge with more horsepower, but maybe there's some humidity control stuff that would be a problem?

Thanks for any insight.
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Re: OK to use a freezer for drying chamber conversion?

Postby NCPaul » Sat Oct 19, 2013 10:35 am

It should work fine. You may want to know if it is a frost-free model; these I believe cycle on/off more. Cheese needs higher humidity than a ham so some have put cheese in a separate container.
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Re: OK to use a freezer for drying chamber conversion?

Postby johngaltsmotor » Mon Oct 21, 2013 4:16 pm

With a temperature controller that has a sufficient band between on and off you should be fine. If you didn't use a dedicated controller the freezer would short cycle a lot and burn out the compressor. It will be less efficient than a refrigerator from that standpoint, but it is likely insulated better so should actually use less power.
Most refrigerator/freezers simply pump cold air from the freezer into the refrigerator so the humidity aspects are the same, other than the colder temperatures normally condensing out more moisture on the walls.
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