Yesterday I replaced my chest freezer with larger upright and we are very happy with it. My girlfriend is already eyeing a share of buffalo and we're excited about being able to see everything without digging deep in the chest freezer.
Now we need to figure out what to do with the old freezer. We might give it away if a friend wants it but if not could I turn it into a chamber for salami/cheese/etc?
Buffalo is coming in 2023 at the earliest but we'll likely put in an order and get on the waiting list. Also, I think it's technically bison 🦬. We just picked up a some pork from my sister though and a bunch of salmon from California too. I really want to do some salmon "yakitori" style.
I tried using a freezer as a curing chamber once, but I didn't account for the humidity that will build up if you don't incorporate some sort of dehumidifier. I ended up with such a mold fest that I threw out the food and the freezer. Fortunately, it wasn't a full size chest freezer - just a half size under-counter model - that I got super-cheap. But the food I threw out was worth probably as much as the freezer, so that hurt.
+1 radshop you have to account for the humidity. At my old job (I ran a butcher shop and did charcuterie) we had a reach in just for curing and dry aging.
Equipment:
'88 Vintage Fire Magic gasser with over 4000 cooks to its credit
Large Big Green Egg
18 Inch Weber Kettle (Rescued from neighbor's trash)
Rotisserie for 18 inch kettle
Dyna Glo propane smoker
Pit Barrel Cooker
Smokey Joe with mini WSM mod
Garcima paella burner
Anova Sous Vide
Slaiya Sous Vide (gift)
LEM grinder, sausage stuffer and meat slicer (all gifts)
I too tried to use an old chest freezer as a curing chamber. I could not find a way to remove the humidity and after many tries gave up. Eventually picked up an old refrigerator with a working compressor and failed controller for $25 on Craig's list. Hard wired out the thermostat and used my own controller. Still going strong after 8 years.
I saw someone used their old chest freezer as a storage for gas containers. They dug a pit, put the freezer in there, then put the gas cans in there, and he put something over top it in the yard, so it wasn’t an open pit.
I know many guys who use chest freezers to build kegerators for beer. You have to get a separate temp controller to run them like that - something like a $15 STC1000 off eBay does the job. To hold beer at 40 degrees the compressor does not run often once the kegs inside are chilled down. To use it in the mid 30's for cheese you would have to do something similar, as I am assuming you don't want to freeze the cheese/salami/whatever.
I think condensation and subsequent mold would be caused by air leaks, which are more common in a kegerator, since they usually mount a wooden collar to extend the depth, and mount taps on the wooden collar. I think I've heard a few guys talk about dropping a bucket of damp-rid in the corner, or using some battery powered dehumidifier. If you are not modifying it however, I doubt you will have quite the issue these guys have.
I have two 4.4 cubic food Danby brand small refrigerators that have no freezer section that I use as 2 tap kegerators, and I've never had a mold issue. They each hold two 5 gallon beer kegs, and have a 2 tap beer tower mounted on top. Being refrigerators, they have a condensation drain below the cold plate on the back wall, which probably helps.
Last edited by jfmorris; August 11, 2022, 06:22 AM.
Thanks for the idea, Jim. I think this controller might be the solution to a problem I've been trying to solve -- how to make an old chest freezer stay above freezing when we need it as a cooler not a freezer. We use the freezer as a normal freezer in the late summer and fall for freezing elderberries. We need a large cooler in the winter for storing hardwood cuttings. I see there's a "pro" version of the controller that's plug n play which might work better for this situation. Any thoughts?
Purcjfmorris My brewing days are behind me and I do have kegerator although I recently took the kegerator components out of the fridge because I just didn't use it anymore. It's still my bar fridge but now I have more room for bottles and cans.
Due to a hot summer and slowed down brewing schedule due to my home renovation, my son in law and daughter have been picking up commercial kegs and putting them in their home kegerator. He had to get a sanke to ball valve adapter, but when we don't have time to brew, he can just go pickup a keg (or two) now.
If I ever stop brewing, I will just go the same route.
I really wasn't saying you should brew, I was just pointing out that many folk use chest freezers as kegerators and get it to work out, at refrigerator temps. I think at worst you drop a bucket of damp rid in the corner on the compressor hump if you notice condensation issues, and give your cheese/salami thing a try. I think you will want a cheap temp controller if you don't already have one, so that you can know what temp you are maintaining in there.
jfmorris I think I'm just going to try to find a friend who wants the freezer. If a chest freezer was ideal for turning into a curing chamber I might pursue it but it sounds like that really isn't the case.
Also, I did consider using it as a kegerator because I could install it in the room behind my bar and have the taps flush mounted on the wall which would be cool. However, because I don't consume that much beer anymore it would likely not get used enough just like my other kegerator.
I use my old chest freezer not as a kegerator but as a fermenting chamber to make beer. Due to the big selection beer almost anywhere you go I haven't brewed any beer for awhile but due to the prices for craft/micro brew and even big brands going way up I fired up the old boil kettle and now a few gallons of hefeweizen fermenting in the chest freezer. A curing chamber would work if you find away to control the humididy and temp and put some shelves to allow even air flow.
Airflow may in fact be the key. Some type of fan to circulate air down in there would probably help control temp and humidity. I've got a fan in each of my mini-fridge 2 keg kegerators, to circulate air and to blow it up the beer tower to keep the lines cool. I drilled a hole in the compressor hump where I knew there were no cooling lines, and then ran the DC power cord for the fan out the hole, and caulked around it.
Attjack I think you are wise to give it to someone who needs a freezer, or sell it. I would look for a small fridge or mini fridge for curing, as it won't need the work, and will already have shelves to put things on. The two I use as kegerators are Danby 4.4 cubic foot models that have no useless top freezer - i.e. they are all fridge. Worked well for me as they hold two Pepsi kegs with no mod other than replacing the molded interior door panel with a sheet of corrugated plastic from the hardware store.
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