StillSmart

scubadiver wrote:Its been running a chest freezer

I would be interested to know - why chest and not upright ? 25l is a heavy lift!

Mash wrote:

scubadiver wrote:Its been running a chest freezer

I would be interested to know - why chest and not upright ? 25l is a heavy lift!

I think he explained that already...

inspector gadget wrote:

I think he explained that already...

Well yes i suppose - I have an upright freezer that doesn't have pipes in the sleeves and the frost free ones have a fan. I just thought the lift of 25kg out of a chest freezer might be a bit alarming. I have tried it personally and don't care for it at all. No worries.

And, yes from here, fermenting strippers will catch my attention, in or outside of a cabinet.

Robert.

If I could belatedly ask - why is the thread assuming that a fermenting tub is necessary?

I have looked in my chest freezer and it's apparent that the chest is waterproof, though caulking the internal seams with silicone sealant would be a sensible step.

It has a removable sump drain to which a flexible hose can be attached, and it's extremely well insulated against heat movement in or out. There's a sealed lid which would allow gas out but not in.

I'm wondering why anyone would put a fermenting tub into it, when it already has all the attributes of a fermenting tub.

Starting a mash in there at an appropriate temperature, the temperature can only increase so no heating is needed even in bitter winter conditions.

A thermostat could trip the freezer on for a few minutes whenever the temperature bumps whatever ceiling you've set.

Finally, after fining, the freezer gets switched on for three days' maximum cold and the low wine product siphoned out, after which the sump is drained and the cabinet re-sterilized.

A fermenting tub just reduces the volume the freezer can handle.

Thats what I would call 'thinking inside the box'

spot wrote:If I could belatedly ask - why is the thread assuming that a fermenting tub is necessary?

I have looked in my chest freezer and it's apparent that the chest is waterproof, though caulking the internal seams with silicone sealant would be a sensible step.

It has a removable sump drain to which a flexible hose can be attached, and it's extremely well insulated against heat movement in or out. There's a sealed lid which would allow gas out but not in.

I'm wondering why anyone would put a fermenting tub into it, when it already has all the attributes of a fermenting tub.

Starting a mash in there at an appropriate temperature, the temperature can only increase so no heating is needed even in bitter winter conditions.

A thermostat could trip the freezer on for a few minutes whenever the temperature bumps whatever ceiling you've set.

Finally, after fining, the freezer gets switched on for three days' maximum cold and the low wine product siphoned out, after which the sump is drained and the cabinet re-sterilized.

A fermenting tub just reduces the volume the freezer can handle.

I think this is a joke ... right ?

Nobody ever accused me of a sense of humour, I wouldn't know how. I'm predominantly dour with moments of unpredictability.

Either £110 will get you a 98 litre insulated fermenter with built-in cooling and fractional freezing or there's a reason why it won't, and I don't yet know which. If you indicate flaws I'd be grateful.

spot wrote:
Either £110 will get you a 98 litre insulated fermenter with built-in cooling and fractional freezing or there's a reason why it won't, and I don't yet know which. If you indicate flaws I'd be grateful.

I am seeing the need to mount the freezer on a high enough plinth that siphoning out is practical.
I guess if you went to that scale, why siphon, pump it instead?

Maybe the biggest objection would be fermenting in an Aluminium vessel.
Aluminium with an oxide layer is sometimes considered OK, a fermented wash can drop to a very low Ph level, and an acidic wash could affect the oxide layer, and here would be the problem, as I see it...
Some consider me Gung-ho, but even I would think hard on this one.

Now if you could find a freezer lined with HDPE then your idea is a top one.

Robert.

I'm glad I asked - yes, the aluminium is a very good reason not to.

There are YouTube clips of people filling condoms with immense volumes of water to show how they don't burst, maybe several could act as a liner? Will a condom survive with 25 litres of fermenting yeast inside, and the top tied to a bubbler with an elastic band, and four of them filling the freezer compartment?

I don't know but the idea of trying makes me smile!
I'm sure the small amount of "Sensitol" lubricant won't make much difference!

Robert.

The thought of inverting it makes me smile.

My simplistic mind never got beyond the cabinet being so several different recipes could be done at once.

A different flavour for each French tickler, perhaps.

I assume it's unsafe to operate a chest freezer on its side at eye level for convenient access? So that you can drop the lid down like a writing desk and use the inner lid as a shelf with all the frozen contents at the back?

spot wrote:A different flavour for each French tickler, perhaps.

I assume it's unsafe to operate a chest freezer on its side at eye level for convenient access? So that you can drop the lid down like a writing desk and use the inner lid as a shelf with all the frozen contents at the back?

I very much like that idea in terms of sliding out fermentation vessels instead of lifting them.

edit : my eye level is above 3 feet off ground, but the point remains