A curious non-engineer looking for some guidance

[SanManSpecial]

Hey Folks,

I currently enjoy the hobby of making my own sausage and am looking to get into making cured meats such as prosciutto, salami, etc. These aged meats need a curing chamber that controls temperature and humidity. Many people have resorted to converting old refrigeration units to create these curing chambers.

I unfortunately don't have space in my apartment to house a full-size refrigerator and when looking into the alternatives (wine cooler, mini fridge) they pose a different challenge. As described in this blog post, because the way these smaller units keep the refrigerator cool, it is hard to "de-humidify" the inside to control humidity levels.

My questions to the group are:
- Do small for refrigerators exist that are "dry" (I assume using the large form technology)
- If I wanted something like this custom built, what type of person do I look for to help me with this project (I live in the Los Angeles area)
- Have any of you seen someone who integrated all of the elements of a curing chamber (humidifier, temperature control, etc.) in a single unit as opposed to modifying a unit and adding attachments?

Any guidance around this area would be awesome!

[install monkey]

apologies- links are relevent

[Rob White]

.

One of the byproducts of cooling is dehumidification.

To do it properly is a science in its self but to do it DIY then trial
and error are all you need.

When it comes to meat and drying you need a big temperature
difference and you could achieve that with a small chest freezer.

The chest freezer will run at -20 so you need to control it correctly
but at that temp if you put fresh meat inside (controlling the temp)
the moisture will be removed from the meat quicker.

You just need to find a small domestic chest freezer and some good
accurate temp control.

Rob

.

[Magoo]

Get hold of a red wine storage cabinet, they are available. Humidity and temperature control as standard.