Advice wanted; DIY meat curing chamber

[Woodsy]

Some questions please for anyone who has experience with making a DIY meat curing chamber.

Am using an old fridge and so far have got a temp and humidity controller (MTC-6040) set up as well an ultra sonic humidifier. One issue is that the ambient temperature in the shed is now too low so I need a way to heat the inside to bring it up to around 12degrees. Will a 60 watt bulb be ok inside the fridge? I have a red colour bulb as I wasn’t sure if a normal bulb would create light which could somehow interfere with the curing process or encourage the wrong type of mould to develop (am completely new to this). How can I set up a controller to regulate when the bulb should come on/go off? The diagram for the temp/humidity controller shows three outlets. One to the compressor on the fridge, one to a fan and one to a third load (which the humidifier has been connected to).

Also the diagram/manual for the controller is very badly written (translated from Chinese perhaps). It mentions ‘hysteresis’, on one of the settings, saying ‘compressor on, the stop temperature difference’. I have no idea what this means. It suggests a default setting of 2 degrees centigrade.

Any thoughts, suggestions or advice on the above would be gratefully appreciated.

 

[John_R]

Hysteresis is a bit like overshoot or lag.

 

[Woodsy]

Hysteresis is a bit like overshoot or lag.

Thanks very much for your reply. Could you put that in to even simpler terms please!? What effect would a setting of 2 degrees hysteresis have?

 

[Woodsy]

Hysteresis is a bit like overshoot or lag.

So if I understand correctly then a temperature setting of 12 degrees will go up to 14 or down to 10 before the compressor comes on/goes off of the hysteresis setting is 2 degrees. Is that right?

 

[John_R]

I suspect probably means that it would keep the temperature 2 degrees either side of the chosen setting. Either that or the total swing is 2 degrees but I would have to check, it's a long while since I had to deal with that.

 

[John_R]

I did look in old books, and I think your interpretation is correct, ie the total swing would be from 10 to 14 degrees.

As for the heat source, perhaps something meant for vivarium or cabinet would be better than a lamp. However, you would probably wish that any heat source was also controlled.

 

[Woodsy]

I did look in old books, and I think your interpretation is correct, ie the total swing would be from 10 to 14 degrees.

As for the heat source, perhaps something meant for vivarium or cabinet would be better than a lamp. However, you would probably wish that any heat source was also controlled.

Thanks very much. Yes, ideally I will need to control the heat source. I’m not sure how best to do that though. Any ideas would be welcome!

 

[Clamhunter]

I use a set up with an old fridge. It's ended up a bit of a mix up of wiring but it works for me. I have a 2 cheap Chinese controllers for heating temperature and adding humidity. Also a inkbird that controls the cooling temperature and dehumidifying.

Humidity is added by ultrasonic humidifier. And heat by a plain ordinary light bulb. Usually 40 to 60 watt. To get humidity down I have it wired to turn the fridge on and it pulls the humidity down. I also have a cheap extractor fan in the side of the fridge that gives an exchange of air from outside to freshen things up daily. On a plug timer to control it.

The light bulb in the bottom of the fridge has a bit of foil set over it. Simply because some people say that any direct uv light will impair flavours.

Parameters I stick between are 70 to 75 % RH and 10 to 16°C. I try and get everything sitting at the lower end of the temperature range.

The controllers take a bit of setting up as obviously if temperature changes the relative humidity alters. Some of the parameters will occasionally overshoot their values and everything ends up fighting against themselves till you finally get everything adjusted correctly.

The inkbirds are definitely worth getting as much easier to set up as minimal wiring.

 

[Woodsy]

I use a set up with an old fridge. It's ended up a bit of a mix up of wiring but it works for me. I have a 2 cheap Chinese controllers for heating temperature and adding humidity. Also a inkbird that controls the cooling temperature and dehumidifying.

Humidity is added by ultrasonic humidifier. And heat by a plain ordinary light bulb. Usually 40 to 60 watt. To get humidity down I have it wired to turn the fridge on and it pulls the humidity down. I also have a cheap extractor fan in the side of the fridge that gives an exchange of air from outside to freshen things up daily. On a plug timer to control it.

The light bulb in the bottom of the fridge has a bit of foil set over it. Simply because some people say that any direct uv light will impair flavours.

Parameters I stick between are 70 to 75 % RH and 10 to 16°C. I try and get everything sitting at the lower end of the temperature range.

The controllers take a bit of setting up as obviously if temperature changes the relative humidity alters. Some of the parameters will occasionally overshoot their values and everything ends up fighting against themselves till you finally get everything adjusted correctly.

The inkbirds are definitely worth getting as much easier to set up as minimal wiring.

Thanks very much for that. Very helpful info.