Ice Closet Cooler

FISMA

Has anyone ever tried to make an ice box in which to hang deer? No electrical or refrigerant.

I am no longer convinced that the logistics of building a refrigerated cold room is worth my while.

A simple closet 2'x4'x8' made from 3/4" plywood and insulated very well on all sides should be enough. I bet a few bags of ice would keep the temperature low enough for days if the seal was good and the door not opened.

So has anyone tried making what is really just a large cooler/ice box?

I will have to do the math. However, 64ft^3 of air isn't going to take much to cool. Will also have to look in to getting dry ice.

Ideas welcome.

The Aussie

Obvious answer first, wouldn't a Pepsi/Coke fridge be better? Or does it have to be 6'4" X 3'?

A few bags of ice would not be able for the job, a real low tech old school way of doing it is through evaporative cooling, this has been done down through the years at many levels all the way up to industrial, the Australian way was called the Coolgardie a meat Safe





The Coolgardie Safe was named after a little mining town in Western Australia. It was invented in the late 1890's because the weather was so hot. It was usually placed on a veranda and where there was a breeze. The Coolgardie Safe was made of wire mesh, hessian, a wooden frame and it had a galvanised iron tray on top.

The galvanised iron tray was filled with water. The hessian bag was hung over the side with one of the ends in the tray to soak up the water. Gradually the hession bag would get wet. When a breeze came it would go through the wet bag and evaporate the water. This would cool the air and in turn cool the food stored in the safe.

If your going down the insulated panel route, you would want something that can be properly scrubbed out, Plywood and Insulation sounds like a good breeding ground for Pathogens, you can get secondhand insulated roofing panels of different thicknesses cheap enough, like this
http://www.donedeal.ie/buildingmaterials-for-sale/insulated-roof-panels-for-sale/7039330
It would not be as good as proper Cold Room material but a step in the right direction.


Dry Ice or Chemical Ice is good for tight spaces as it evaporates it Cools, the more you open up the door the faster it goes and if you have to much room to cool it's wasted, great way for catching fish on a extended fishing trip though if you got sick of meat.

wexfordman2

You could cover the plywood with coriboard either which is cheap if not free. I got a load of it from my local centra who use it for advertising, but the back of it is never printed so gives a smooth white Pvc sheet to line your room.with.

cookimonster

Aussie's post says it all, the Spanish do something similar for cooling gazpacio soup. Both ideas work on heat moving to cold and evaporating water aids this process.

Refrigeration does not transmit 'coldness' to an object it infact carries heat away. This is an important point, if the heat can not be transferred to a different location then the surrounding air temp will increase to the body temp and no chilling will occur. This is the difference between a insulated container and a refrigerator, the cooler is used to store food that is already chilled.

No ventilation will cause condinsation and bacterial / mould growth leading to spoilage. If the ambient temp is low enough and insect activity low than hanging in a shed is better.

Ice in the cavities will encourage cooling but will cause dampness leading to above problem. Humidity plays just a big a part in hanging meat as does temperature.

Gallery14

Simple: Coke/beer fridge cooler, quicker to set up and most importantly safer for hanging meat for consumption, they are small enough to put out in a garage or big shed (about 2' deep 2' wide and 7'tall).

They are fully insulated and have built in fans for the circulation of air, and easy to clean which is the main thing, The home made cooler is a good idea but unless your cooler is 100% sealed you run the risk of mould forming in it especially when the air temp is different outside it, and we all know what mould is made up off! Bye bye nice venison steaks if mr mould forms!!

I have one now for the last two years and it's mighty! You can dial in the desired temp close the door and all you have to do then is keep an eye on it and wait while it ages for your desired time!