Homemade Sausage Making

I must first say what a great forum. I have been reading the forum for about 4 hours today and it has answered a lot of questions. I have been making smoked type sausages for a couple years now and really enjoy that but its time to step up to fermented salami.
I really want to know if I need to cut a hole in my Snapple cooler and put a vent in it or just open the door once or twice a day. Here is some work I did yesterday and feel free to help me on my journey by telling me "That wont work".
I spent about five hours working on my dry cure cabinet today. Started out by giving the entire inside a wash down of Bleach and water and scrubbing it clean. Then I Installed some accessories starting with a little power and a Temperature control for the Heater.



Got the boxes and conduit installed



Got all the wiring ran and looking for my sausage stuffer



Inside receptacles still need a weatherproof cover. The extension cord that plugs into the outside runs off a GFCI.



Heater and humidifier in cabinet for looks, just waiting on a fan and Humidity/temp monitor from Amazon.



Worked until dark outside and have a lot more to do but thought I would share this much



After working monday, I will have 13 days off so let the Meat stuffing Begin ;D
$9 worth of SS hooks on the top shelf for hangin you know what

Hi buddy
Welcome to a great forum. The more info we collect the better I say. Hey folks keymaster is one hell of a good guy and knows his sh*t that's for sure. I have learned a lot of good info from his posts from a forum that we both belong to. He is always willing to help out. Just check out his dry cure cabinet, he does things top notch.
Later bud
Devo

Devo wrote:Hi buddy
Welcome to a great forum. The more info we collect the better I say. Hey folks keymaster is one hell of a good guy and knows his sh*t that's for sure. I have learned a lot of good info from his posts from a forum that we both belong to. He is always willing to help out. Just check out his dry cure cabinet, he does things top notch.
Later bud
Devo

Thanks for the warm Welcome and vote of confidence Devo, Can't wait to ferment some salami!!!

Keymaster
I wouldn`t worry about a vent or cutting a hole in the cabinet. If the cabinet door has a good seal I would just crack it open once in a while. You might want to install a fan inside, in the future for minimal air flow. Nice job your work looks like a neat and clean setup.

Wally

Thanks Wally, I really dont want to cut holes in my cabinet but in the same token I dont want slimy salami. I will see how this first batch of Genoa goes and adjust from there.

Aaron

Thats a great build. I gotta get busy with mine.

What are you going to make first Rick? I hang a dark Blanket over the front of my glass door so minimal light gets in and hold it on top with two bricks.

I love the glass door look! You can sit for hours and watch your project progress.

Where are you guys scoring these cabinets?

Dave

I purchased mine off of craigslist. Search for merchandiser, coke cooler, pepsi cooler, beverageair, true cooler etc. I got mine for $50 and put $20 into it for the refrigeration to function but did the work myself. Its so cold in my garage I dont even have the cooler part plugged in.

Keymaster wrote:I purchased mine off of craigslist. Search for merchandiser, coke cooler, pepsi cooler, beverageair, true cooler etc. I got mine for $50 and put $20 into it for the refrigeration to function but did the work myself. Its so cold in my garage I dont even have the cooler part plugged in.

Yeah got mine there to.

LOL Aaron

So cold in your garage. Im just so scared to drill holes in the side of mine, Guess i need to try to find a drawing on where wires and lines are located


Dave

You really dont want light to get thru the glass. My wife is going to make me a black felt glass cover for mine.

You could also get some window tint from a local hardware store fairly cheaply
John

Keymaster-that is a sweet setup. I like how clean all the electrical components look.

My question for you is- where did you find the electical cover that has the opening that an extention cord plugs into? The folks a Lowes and Homer's Depot look at me like I'm from a different planet when I describe your set up for the extention cord. May have to break out the Grainer catalogue.

And can you tell me how your ran your probe into the box? A pic or two would be nice.

Thanks~

Dutch

Go to grainger.com and type in this part # 3d189. I will get some pics when I get off work. The flanged inlet was an old one I had laying around.

Aaron

Dutch wrote:And can you tell me how your ran your probe into the box? A pic or two would be nice.

I drilled a 1/2" hole




Then I purchased these hole plugs at Schucks/Oreilly auto parts



Then I drilled a hole in the center just a hair bigger than the probe wire and sliced one side with a razor knife



Then you can either stuff the foam you drilled out back in the hole or use fiberglass insulation or by a can of expanding foam





Are you building a dry cure cabinet? Thanks for the nice compliments!!!

Aaron

Hey Keymaster, right off hand I'd say you know your way around a tool kit eh?
Our "resident expert" is Uwanna in Vermont. Wally can make fermented sausage in the dark without the use of a flashlight! Heck, I'd trust this kayak paddlin' expert with 50 pounds of my best poached venison! He makes my fermented sausage look like I just began grindin' and stuffin'! Shucks pard, I'd even lend him my horse (for 12 hours)!
Seriously, it sounds like Aaron and Wally are the "go to" dudes for chambers! Keep up the good work fellows! I think you're amazin'.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon