Vat - Roaster Oven

[Frumunda]

I went to Wally-World last night and took a look at the roaster ovens.This GE 17 quart was only $29.88!



And just look at the thermostat!You can adjust it WAY down!Below 100 degrees!And it shuts off automatically and turns it'self back on to maintain a constant temperature!



I'm gonna fill it with water this weekend when I have time and play around with it and see just what it can do before trying to make cheese with it.But if all goes well,I'll need a bigger mold for my press,cause this thing should be able to pull off a 4 gallon batch!

[DeejayDebi]

Hey of all else fails get t to temperature and shut it down for a bit.

[Frumunda]

Yes,that is an option,definately,but first I'm going to see if it will simply maintain low temps on its own,that would be great,since I wouldn't have to constantly monitor the temperature,I could just focus on the timing and ph.(well,as soon as I get a ph meter that is! ) Just one less thing to worry about,I guess is what I'm looking at and making the process a tad easier than using a double boiler and cheaper than investing in expensive large stainless steel pots in order to keep expenses down when it comes to making larger batches.

[DeejayDebi]

And when your done you could roast some chickens! 

Looks like the controls are limitless. Should work fine. Keep us posted.

[pamaples]

WOW, for 30 bucks I might consider retiring grandma's old roaster! Rudolf the red-nosed roaster is at least 45 years old and its lowest setting is 150. It will hold a 25 lb bird and I still use it to cook turkey at thanksgiving every year, (to free up the oven for more important things like pie).

I bought a large deep rectangular stainless steel pan at a used resturant supply house and the roaster has a rack to keep it up off the bottom. I use that set up to make flan. If yours doesn't have a rack you could cut the bottoms out of some tuna cans ans put them in there.    -cheesy grin

[chilipepper]

Looks interesting. Please keep us posted how well it hold temp and how even it will hold temp.  I'd really be interested to see if you get hot spots on the bottom and how well the heat distributes throughout the milk.

Ryan

[avaserfi]

I am also interested. I was thinking about getting a bigger pot to make hard cheese in - this might be a better, cheaper, option. Please report back!

[Frumunda]

I got too busy cleaning my house last weekend to try it.I'll definately be testing it out soon,though, and I'll let yall know!

[avaserfi]

I got too busy cleaning my house last weekend to try it.I'll definately be testing it out soon,though, and I'll let yall know!

Sounds great! I am excited to get something larger than what I have and this just seems perfect!

Thanks for being the guinea pig.

[Frumunda]

Well,I played around with this thing this weekend,seems the lowest temperature you can regulate is just over 100F.I still have some more experimenting to do,but as stated earlier,you can always get it to temperature and turn it off for a while.But for $30 I'm not going to complain!

[DeejayDebi]

A $30 cheese vat sounds good to me!

[sominus]

There's always the option of getting a PID controller for it, though that would be a bit of overkill for a $30 unit.  However, that would also let you get temps below 100.

I posted in a diff. thread about the Wyott drop-in countertop food warmers... More expensive, certainly, but will they control temp better?

-Michael

[DeejayDebi]

I just goggled the Wyott drop-in countertop food warmers YIKES! For that price I'd make one or have a bigger one fabricated someplace. Way oot of my comfort zone. I'll stick with the stowaway! Makes it great for parties too.

[sominus]

They can be had for the $120ish range new, and on ebay for about $75...  Some places really gouge for them!

-Michael

[DeejayDebi]

Not sure but I think that's what Gregore has which is what gave me the idea in the first place. I think he got his on eBay if I remember right. I found one similar to his there but opted for the one I got because I gave me so many options for cooking as well as cheese.