dcarch

I think most commercial units are also frost -free. dcarch

Whatever the refrigeration machine is, it still has to follow physics laws. I am aware of the following situation: When you open the door to a smoker, you feel a blast of hot air, and you get yelled at, " If you are looking, you are not cooking". When you open the door to your freezer to get food when the power is out, you feel a blast of chill air, and you get yelled at for ruining all the food in the freezer. But the following is the reality: Specific Heat of air =.018 Btus per cubic foot. Assuming room temperature is 80F, and refrigerator temperature is 35F, 80F – 35F = 45F x .018 = 0.81 BTU Assuming you have 8 cu ft of free air in your refrigerator and 100% of the air is replaced with room temperature air: 8 x 0.81 = 3.24 BTUs is all the energy you need to cool the air back down. That’s less than 2 watt of electric power. And for a freezer, relatively full, with one cu ft of free air, at -5F, you are talking about only 1.62 BTU lost. dcarch

"--------and I was jut itching to get rid of one chest freezer that was hogging space in the kitchen. I scrounged up a pick-up truck and drove off to the city dump.------" There are all kinds of rules/laws regarding the disposal of refrigeration machinery. Check with your local authorities first. dcarch

"----------------Just drill from the side that doesn't have coils. " The electric power wiring from the thermostat to the compressor may be there. dcarch

IR thermometer is not reliable unless you know exactly the characteristics of your particular model. It is very misleading that the laser beam is not the beam that is doing the reading. dcarch

There are a couple of easy ways to find out: 1. Get an infrared camera $10,000. or 2. A sheet of liquid crystal temperature sensing film to put on the surface, to show where the coil is attached. $10.00. dcarch

There is no single answer. It depends on lots of factors. 1. What is the recipe? 2. How thick are the chops? 3. What kind of heat source, induction? gas? electric? 4. construction of the stainless pan? 5. Do you want grill marks? 6. Does your cast iron pan have a cover? I use both stainless and cast iron. dcarch

Another DIY way is to use Peltier solid state cooler to condense air moisture, and use heat pipes to conduct either heat or cool to where you want. Both Peltier and heat pipes can be found relatively inexpensive. dcarch Moisture gets frozen on a Peltier device. http://www.elperfecto.com/wp-content/uploads/Peltier-Cooler-captures-water-from-air.jpg

America had lousy food, until Thomas Jefferson made an effort to change that. It is simply impossible to classify what is American cuisine today. Here in NYC, in Jackson Heights, we have wonderful Indian food. Flushing , Chinese food, Brooklyn, Polish food -------------------------------. The kind of food that I consider truly American, cross cultural, cross ethnic, are, Kentucky Fried Chicken, Wendy's, McDonald's, Starbucks, White Castle -----------. dcarch

What is "American Cuisine" ? dcarch

A few years ago, out of curiosity, I bought on eBay a 9" Teflon coated chef knife for $15.00. The Teflon coating does not do much for non-stick slicing/cutting, but I am surprised that it really can keep a long lasting sharp edge. Not a bad investment. dcarch

Even a manual defrost freezer can work well to dehumidify/dry food effectively. That's why freezer burn is such a big problem if you don't bag food. For a curing chamber, you do have to add a little heat source so that the compressor has longer time to extract moisture. dcarch

Actually, please consider Chris' comment above, "---I also caution you that your energy savings are probably not going to be measurable just switching between a chest and upright variety. It actually takes very little energy to cool the air in the fridge, so opening and closing the door is not as costly as you might guess." I don't remember the exact numbers. The energy lost from opening a refrigerator door is extremely little. You can do a calculation, specific heat of air x volume x degrees = BTUs. BTW, Chris is a trained scientist. dcarch

All frost-free freezers and refrigerators are already a dehumidifier. Heat from the compressor is ejected outside of the box. The only consideration is this: For de-humidification to work, the cooling coil needs time to extract moisture. The problem is that the new freezers are too efficient. The compressor does not get to be running too often. So you may need to add a heat source inside the box, such as a low wattage light bulb. dcarch

"----A compressor based humidifier, which is already in your frost free freezer/refrigerator has no capacity limits to extract moisture from air.---" I meant de-humidifier. Sorry. dcarch

Bang Bang Shrimp? dcarch

Not the purpose for my statement to compare apples to dust mites. At the very maximum, a desiccant device will take out only a few table spoons of moisture, and no more. If you have a large batch of food to dry out and if you open the door regularly, and if you are like some who prefer some air circulation to avoid stale air in your curing chamber, you may need to realize the max capacity of your device. A compressor based humidifier, which is already in your frost free freezer/refrigerator has no capacity limits to extract moisture from air. dcarch

How about pickling/marinating the potatoes in garlic paste for a few days? dcarch

Nice plate, with the map of England graphic designs on the plate. :-) dcarch

My dehumidifier in the basement can take out at least a gallon in 12 hours. dcarch

That's an important consideration for refrigeration systems. Try looking for an aquarium temperature controller. Many have both heating and cooling relay contacts. The aquarium cooling contact is designed to have delay timing for a compressor. Regarding desiccants, try weighing them before and after, and you will realize they are of not much use in absorbing moisture. dcarch

Efficiency of a refrigerator or freezer is a function of mainly three factors: 1. Insulation quality. 2. Condensing coil effectiveness. 3. How often you defrost the evaporation coil. dcarch

When I was in Calgary, yes, it was beyond cold. My car battery was frozen. Food was great in Calgary, and I met with your former mayor Al Duerr. dcarch

C Oliver – I have not had lamb for a while. I would mind have a plate of your lamb chops. Huiray – I really like the deep fried pressed tofu dish. Amazing carrots. Franci – your Siu Yuk looks much better than store bought I had the other day. Anna N – I have noticed that you have wonderful pasta recipes. BonViant – What an impressive display! Mm84321 – I get chanterelles every year from a friend’s farm. They are the same color but shaped differently. Steve Irby – Beautiful pictorial. Mmmpomps – That chicken sandwich is as good as J. Pepin’s “Fastfood My Way”. Shelby – You are making me jealous with all the wild game birds you have been having. Kim – that is one sloppy yummy pot roast sandwich. ------------------------------------------ There was a competition on another food forum, the theme for that competition was " Leftovers" This was my entry for using leftover food. It was one of the two winners. dcarch Chopped smoked pulled pork Spicy California Maki Cold smoked salmon Nigiri Smoked turkey breast Nigiri Smoked shrimps Nigiri