433147 Mon Aug 20 12:31:16 -0700 2007 17 27 General Chowhounding Topics 0 2862742 Dear all, I’ m currently carrying out an experiment of building my own fridge for a purpose of aging my own beef. I have been modified my old mini fridge which sitting in my garage for sometime now. My goal is to create a control environment, which suitable for aged beef as close to commercial fridge as possible. For the past months I have been reading several articles about commercial dry aged fridge. Most said to achieve that goal I have to be able to control temperature, airflow and humidity. So far I have no with temperature control but airflow and humidity still my concern. My question would be: 1. How does commercial fridge control humidity work anyway? Do they have device that can monitor and control humidity? 2. For airflow, do they circulate air by pumping fresh air in and release old air out or they used the same air circulating within the fridge? Any help, comments, guide, idea or tips would greatly be appreciated. Thanks Paul Mon Aug 20 12:31:16 -0700 2007 120672 tbm700 1 2863658 Commercial dry aging is done on whole carcasses in large chilled rooms that are big enough to house dehumidifiers, fans and the other assorted equipment used to maintain the environmental conditions. I can't think of any dehumidifiers small enough to fit in a regular fridge, but you might be able to achieve a similar effect using a desiccant like silica gel (you don't want it to come in contact with the meat). You would need some type of hygrometer with a remote probe to keep an eye on humidity and replace the silica gel when it can no longer absord any more moisture. It can be recycled by putting it in a 250 degree oven for an hour or so. Since humidity is related to air temperature, you wouldn't want to use outside air to provide the circulation. I'm thinking that a cheap method would be to use one of those battery operated mini personal fans that you can get on Amazon for a few bucks. They take AA batteries so you could have some rechargables and replace them when necessary. Keep in mind that true dry aging is done to green (unaged) beef. The meat you can buy at your local grocery store/butcher has most likely been wet aged on the way to retail. You could let them sit in the fridge for a few days to lose some water content, but much longer than that and you risk spoilage. Mon Aug 20 15:49:24 -0700 2007 2862742 73013 LabRat 2 2865108 Labrat. Thank so much for your reply. But what what a fridge that we see in upscale restaruant or butcher shop where they kept their age beef? Are they the same as commercial one? Tue Aug 21 06:06:08 -0700 2007 2863658 120672 tbm700 3 2866225 That sounds like a commercial meat display case. If it is, the meats are rotated out in fairly short order. I don't have too much experience in retail, but I would assume the temperature is kept just above freezing, fans are used to circulate the air and humidity is kept very high to prevent drying out of the meat. Aging meat can look pretty disgusting before it has been trimmed by the butcher, so they don't tend to display it until it is ready to be sold. Tue Aug 21 10:54:44 -0700 2007 2865108 73013 LabRat 3 2866431 Those are just normal refridgerated display cases. They do not actually age the beef in there. They age the beef in huge walk in coolers and they age huge subprimal cuts. See the attached link for what a dry aging room looks like... http://www.seriouseats.com/required_eating/2007/05/inside-a-dryaging-room.html Anything that is being displayed has already been trimmed and prepped and is ready for sale. Tue Aug 21 11:37:20 -0700 2007 2865108 12821 ESNY 4 2878125 Great Essay by Jeffrey Steingarten in It Must Have Been Something I Ate about Dry V. Wet beef and his quest to find it in the us Fri Aug 24 11:35:34 -0700 2007 2866431 88683 stellamystar 2 2962121 RV supply stores such as Camping World sell small battery operated fans designed for a fridge. They are reasonable in price & work well. Fri Sep 21 00:08:36 -0700 2007 2863658 111267 meatn3 1 2880515 The store where I work (rhymes with "hole moods") has a dry aging "cabinet" behind the butcher's counter. It isn't much bigger than a small refrigerator and they always have a few primals and sup-primals hanging up. It is worth asking your local store if they have a similar set up- if you don't have one near you, let me know, I'll ask them how the set-up works. Sat Aug 25 09:22:56 -0700 2007 2862742 39914 lunchbox 2 2895066 Lunchbox...that was my problem cause there were none around my place. If that doesn't bother you too much I would want to know how they settingup their fridge especially airflow and humidity control. Thank in advance. Wed Aug 29 19:56:22 -0700 2007 2880515 120672 tbm700 3 2911399 TBM700 Sorry I disappeared- I will be able to talk to a friend on Thurs... If you can hold on for a few more days, I'll let you know if i learn anything good. Tue Sep 04 22:34:07 -0700 2007 2895066 39914 lunchbox 4 2947017 Back again (finally)- According to the folks in the butcher department of my store, the cabinet is just a basic refrigerator with an incredibly accurate thermostat. I asked about humidity control, and they said the basic temperature control modulated the humidity well enough. Best of luck to you! Sun Sep 16 16:44:39 -0700 2007 2911399 39914 lunchbox 5 2953924 Thanks for your time....Lunchbox. Time to get back for more modification. Tue Sep 18 17:13:49 -0700 2007 2947017 120672 tbm700 1 2896184 My uncle used to own a meat market, he died decades ago. I remember the family talking about his $20k (in ~1975) ozone machine he used for aging beef. I saw your post last week and asked my mother about Uncle's machine, she didn't remember much about it. Thu Aug 30 08:18:52 -0700 2007 2862742 13661 Alan408 2 2904345 Ozone Machine? How does it work? Sun Sep 02 07:24:58 -0700 2007 2896184 120672 tbm700 3 2905649 I think it made ozone gas in the aging locker. The ozone is anti microbial. Sun Sep 02 21:25:30 -0700 2007 2904345 13661 Alan408 1 2952313 I'm working on the same project I do have some ideas for controlling both. Small 4" fans inside the fridge should work for air circulation. Humidity may be a harder thing to control. I'm looking to hold about 75% humidity in my Meat fridge. I'm going to put the fridge in my wine room that holds about 60% RH. I'm hoping a pan of water in the fridge with one of the small fans blowing on it will bring me up to 75%RH. I'm still working on the UV light or Ozone setup. Thanks MVH Tue Sep 18 10:14:41 -0700 2007 2862742 128250 mvh_2000 2 2953929 mvh 2000, That was what I had on my original idea to put a pan of water in the fridge. But haven't try out that yet. Let me know if that work out well for you. Thanks Tue Sep 18 17:16:26 -0700 2007 2952313 120672 tbm700 1 4526641 I am considering building the same thing. Just had an idea how to solve humidity and air circulation problem. I think a cigar humidifier unit will work to solve both. Something like this: http://www.cigarsinternational.com/prodDisp.asp?item=M-COH400-XL Sat Mar 21 22:37:18 -0700 2009 2862742 276375 dtaranov