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Refrigeration for your hard earned venison
Been meaning to put something together as Ive had a few requests over the years looking for a chiller for your average joe hunter to keep some venison in.
First, to make a little polypanel chiller its pretty costly to do it right.
If your thinking of building from scratch...
The polypanel is not too badly priced but aluminium extrusions, sealants and sweat from someones brow does not come cheap. Then theres the real big expense, the door.
Those pretty swinging doors made from fibreglass with a moulded sill etc are around $3-4K new. You can make one out of panel but they're a trade off with poor sealing and will need regular adjustment.
If you can find a used body or even one with a faulty fridge unit then you're half way home. The important bit is to make sure the panel has no holes in it. With a punctured panel outer the temperature differential will drag in moisture from the air till the nice dry panel becomes a giant sponge. The insulation will be lost and build up of mould and other nasties will make your new chiller beersies not so sweet.
The refrigeration is quite easy (well for me it is) and will constitute about half the cost of the build. One thing a lot of guys get wrong is sizing.
In order to maintain good condition in your meat (and most fresh produce) you need to maintain humidity. Refrigeration, especially undersized refrigeration will dehumidify, a lot. Ever put a slice of bread in the fridge? Know what I mean now. Most brands of equipment available in NZ is of reasonable quality. I would shy away from secondhand gear unless you have a few ideas what you're looking at or have a professional give you an appraisal. I would also suggest to stay away from anything that was running on R12, R22 or other older gases. With the phase out of ozone depleting refrigerants these once common gases are now no longer available so if you get a problem you may be left high and dry. A really tidy R22 system might be worth the effort with retrofit refrigerant but they are not going to be common.
So, a new chiller is going to set you back something around $12K for a decent one.
Fair bit of cash for the casual hunter.
My suggestion is secondhand and keep an eye on Trademe etc. There are a few cheapie there but with transport from "Wherethewhakawe" you could be in for a fair bit more than just the purchase price.
Another reasonable option is a commercial fridge. I have two and they are multi purpose deer/beer chillers. Not perfect as I suffer the reduced humidity as explained above but, to get the meat set with skin on as well as buy me a few days to process is a fine compromise. They are more than large enough for what I need and don't take up half my section. Both of mine were the best price too. Free. They both needed a bit of work but cost me around $250 to get them going.
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If you're really keen on looking at a chiller or a fridge Im happy to assist. I can work out heat loads and help with equipment selection etc (when I get a chance).
You probably won't like my price to build you one (honestly, unless its a BIG one) and I don't actively seek out secondhand gear, so you will do a better job of hunting around than I will.
If you see something you like on Trademe, again Im happy to give you my opinion, so feel free ask away. Maybe keep it in the thread rather than PM so it can be of use to others?
