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GENERAL CHEESE MAKING BOARDS (Specific Cheese Making in Boards above) => EQUIPMENT - Making Cheese => Topic started by: iratherfly on January 09, 2011, 09:37:15 AM

Title: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 09, 2011, 09:37:15 AM
So it's finally here.  After discussing it quite a lot and getting so many ideas (thank you Sailor, Linuxboy, FarmerJD) on the thread 'Need a reliable thermometer' here: http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,5523.30/topicseen.html (http://cheeseforum.org/forum/index.php/topic,5523.30/topicseen.html) I finally put it together this afternoon with a little help from my friends.  My friends Lisa and Abe from Sous Vide blog http://qandabe.com/ (http://qandabe.com/) dropped by with tools and before I knew it, this thing was up and running.

When I began thinking about a sous vide machine that would not cost $400-$5000, I immediately began to understand the enormous potential it has to make a perfect cheese vat.  At first, I did sous vide in the cheese vat and that's where I met Lisa and Abe who inspired me to get a proper digital apparatus of controller and heater in there on the cheap and accurate.  I then embarked on finding a form factor that can combine both uses: cheesemaking and sous vide.

Sous what?
Sous vide (French for "under vacuum") for those who are not familiar, is a popular and miraculous cooking techniques where stuff gets cooked in vacuum bags in tepid water that are tuned up to a specific target point. Food pasteurizes and then cooks 100% evenly. It can never, ever get overcooked or burned. In fact, it keeps its colors, vitamins and minerals. Moreover, because of the vacuum, 100% of the moisture is kept in.  A steak can remain in sous vide for 2 hours or 8 hours; doesn't matter, it will always be perfect medium as long as the water are at 140F. You often see this technique being used by top chefs and in shows like Iron Chef. This machine does what their $5000 immersion circulators do - perfectly.  It fits cheesemaking because of its form factor (low and wide - great to cut curd) and its deadly accuracy in low temperatures. Its double boiler configuration prevents milk scalding too!

So what do we need?
A pot, double boiler cooking vessel if possible. Heating element. A pump to circulate and even the water temp out around by blowing some air into it (Used in sous vide only - not in cheesemaking), an industrial-grade thermocouple (digital thermometer probe), a PID controller to take temp measurements from the thermocouple and decide based on our settings at what temperature to turn on/off the heating element. We also need a solid state relay to take these commands from the PID controller and do the actual high voltage switching. It is also important that ALL wires and terminals used for these connections, (no exception!), are high-temp insulated and properly rated to at least 25A.  Any other wire WILL BURN under the heat of the 1350W element - guaranteed! That's about it for the shopping list.

Choosing a Vessel
I wasn't a fan of immersion heaters in a pot as they would scald the milk. The solution would have been to buy an inner pot to serve as a double boiler but think of the cost and the bulkiness. Immersion heaters and bucket heaters are also notoriously weak and unreliable. After investigating several form factors and vessels, from restaurant food tubs to converting a deep fryer, I had my eureka moment in a suburban department store's after-holiday clearance. An electric turkey roaster! Suddenly the lamest of the suburban white elephants had become the hottest concept since sliced cheese! First of, these things are huge! (18-22 quarts for my small batches is more than plenty). Secondly, it has a removable cookwell that sits inside the heated mother cookwell - say what? Yes! A built-in double boiler! No milk scalding!  Third, rather than heating elements on the bottom or submerged elements like immersion heater or like in electric kettles, roasters feature a single continuous heating element that is wrapped like a belt all around the cooking well. The heat comes quickly and evenly from all the sides at once instead of taking its leisurely time from a single spot or the bottom.  That means less mixing needed and much faster heating time of the milk (which reduces the pathogen and any bacterial growth during heating and pre-acidification. Fantastic!). The forth reason was the shallow pan instead of a tall pot - this will allow me to easily cut curd horizontally - something I always find impossible with a pot. Just like a big commercial vat. Fifth, the flimsy traditional design and crude construction meant that two screws are all that hold this thing together. Easy to take apart and put together again after surgery. Lastly, at $40; I couldn't resist. Here's the "before" shot...
(http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/31k322LNfoL._SS500_.jpg)

Getting it done
Taking apart the cover was easy with 2 screws. There is a big nothing inside. (PIC 1) Lots of fiber glass insulation, high temp wires with porcelain terminals. One connected directly to one end of the heating element. The other, connects to the thermostat which is then connected to the other end of the heating element.  We removed the fiber glass insulation with gloves so that we can perform the "surgery" without getting pricked by that nasty insulation.  We then disconnected the wires from their terminals, removed the (very stubborn) thermostat. Passed the wires through the hole where the thermostat used to be. Connected the solid state relay on the appliance's exterior and then connected the PID to it (PIC 2).
Then, it was time to connect the thermocouple to the PID.  Having external thermocouple was the best option if I want to use this for cheese too because mounting a permanent thermocouple inside the vessel would be in the way of stirring and curd cutting .
It was then time to put back the fiberglass insulation (PIC 3) and close the cover.
For testing purposes, we did not mount the PID and relay in a nice sturdy screwed-on stainless housing quite yet... (will do that next week and post photos here). For now we just taped it to the side of the appliance. (PIC 4)
Filled up with water, we were now ready to test it.  Now Abe was ready to do his magic and he programmed the PID to detect the thermocouple and switch the heating element on/off  (PIC 5)
We now used a cheap-o aquarium air pump to bubble it up by placing its silicone hose in the water (I may integrate this into the appliance in the future with on/off switch as it must remain off during cheesemaking - but for now it's an optional external accessory). I wrapped the thermocouple to prevent water from going in (will permanently seal it with silicone later this week). and ...voila! Digital Sous vide machine and cheese vat - Done! (PIC 6)  In that last photo it is tuned up to hold temp at 80C and is indicating it is still climbing and is currently at 35.4C. We did metric Celsius system instead of the Fahrenheit
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 09, 2011, 12:00:54 PM
Congratulations on such an elegant solution, iratherfly!  PM sent with some questions, for the engineering challenged, but inspired. :)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: susanky on January 09, 2011, 02:12:39 PM
Wow!  All I can say is wow.  Looks like a fantastic solution.  If I studies this for a day I may be able to figure it all out.  I'm jealous of all you men with your mechanical solutions (also just read about Farmer's motorizer stir solution).  Thank for you sharing in such detail.  I need that!
Susan
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: mikeradio on January 09, 2011, 04:09:54 PM
Heres a plug and play unit that I use, for people that dont understand electronics.  You plug the turkey roaster into the unit and drop the probe inside and your done.


http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13&products_id=44 (http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=13&products_id=44)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: steampwr8 on January 09, 2011, 04:45:48 PM
Iratherfly;

I now want to pick your brain as to more specifics. I have the very same unit and just recently used it as is for making a Stilton and an Asiago. It performed well as is, but it had to be watched constantly and the manual aspect of temperature changes was difficult. Each are 27 days old, so a complete verdict is not yet possible, I will pass judgement in about a month.

First, when you heat and cook do you use the inner pan? If so you don't put liquid between the inner and out shell do you? The way I used it was to set then inner shell pan into the unit and I believe it is a slip fit with very little room between the wall.

I did experience a little scalding but not bad. I think this would be eliminated with your PID.

Second, can you give us a parts list of the PID and solid state relay that you used.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 09, 2011, 04:54:32 PM
Iratherfly;

I now want to pick your brain as to more specifics. I have the very same unit and just recently used it as is for making a Stilton and an Asiago. It performed well as is, but it had to be watched constantly and the manual aspect of temperature changes was difficult. Each are 27 days old, so a complete verdict is not yet possible, I will pass judgement in about a month.

First, when you heat and cook do you use the inner pan? If so you don't put liquid between the inner and out shell do you? The way I used it was to set then inner shell pan into the unit and I believe it is a slip fit with very little room between the wall.

I did experience a little scalding but not bad. I think this would be eliminated with your PID.

Second, can you give us a parts list of the PID and solid state relay that you used.

I'll admit my engineering ineptitude when I had wondered how the thermocouple worked; I presume it's used to measure the water jacket temp and given that it is an external probe, don't know how it drives the PID scheme; and yes, the actual components used would be very greatly appreciated.  But the idea itself is already much appreciated. :)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on January 09, 2011, 05:21:01 PM
Very cool IRF. I especially like the duct tape. Gives a sort of redneck (Paula Dean) elegance to gourmet cutting.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: steampwr8 on January 09, 2011, 05:43:30 PM
Iratherfly;

I now want to pick your brain as to more specifics. I have the very same unit and just recently used it as is for making a Stilton and an Asiago. It performed well as is, but it had to be watched constantly and the manual aspect of temperature changes was difficult. Each are 27 days old, so a complete verdict is not yet possible, I will pass judgement in about a month.

First, when you heat and cook do you use the inner pan? If so you don't put liquid between the inner and out shell do you? The way I used it was to set then inner shell pan into the unit and I believe it is a slip fit with very little room between the wall.

I did experience a little scalding but not bad. I think this would be eliminated with your PID.

Second, can you give us a parts list of the PID and solid state relay that you used.

I'll admit my engineering ineptitude when I had wondered how the thermocouple worked; I presume it's used to measure the water jacket temp and given that it is an external probe, don't know how it drives the PID scheme; and yes, the actual components used would be very greatly appreciated.  But the idea itself is already much appreciated. :)

Thermocouples are easy to understand. They are simply two wires made of two unlike metal alloys. Most of what we use in the food industry are called type K. One wire is made of chromel, the other wire is made of alumel. They are welded together at the end to form a bead.

When this bead is heated or cooled it was found that the two metals expand at different rates and as they do they also generate a small amount of voltage in direct proportion to temperature. We plug this wire into the PID and internal circuitry is used to convert the voltage to temperature. The rest of the PID is a computer that can use this data to control our cheese vat by turning on and off the heater at our set temps.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 09, 2011, 05:55:31 PM
Okay, lots of questions, I will try to get to everything.

Sailor, you kill me man.  As I said on the post, the tape is just for running the test. It all goes into an elegant, solid, screwed-on stainless box fitted especially for it but it will take me a few more days. Paula Dean can only hope to get her hands on that!

steampwr8 - Yes, I intend on using the inner well to prevent scalding. I will try to put water in the mother well but don't know how much water I can realistically put there.  I will also test it a couple of times until I know my deviation point so basically if I want 88F milk I will instruct the machine to go to 85.5F for example, expecting it to increase the heat in the next few minutes.  Since milk is dense and hold temp very well and for a long time and we only need it to get to the right temp and then keep it there for an hour or two at the most, I trust that this will work very accurately.

I got a couple of PMs asking me for the shopping list with links, so here goes:

PID: http://www.lightobject.com/JLD612-Dual-Display-PID-Temperature-Controller-P43.aspx (http://www.lightobject.com/JLD612-Dual-Display-PID-Temperature-Controller-P43.aspx)
Thermocouple: (you can get a $3.50 one, I got the more accurate one with long cable) http://www.lightobject.com/6ft-PT-100-PID-Precise-01-degree-Thermocouple-P218.aspx (http://www.lightobject.com/6ft-PT-100-PID-Precise-01-degree-Thermocouple-P218.aspx)
Solid State relay, 25A with LED indicator: http://www.lightobject.com/25A-Solid-State-Relay-SSR-DC-In-AC-Out-P61.aspx (http://www.lightobject.com/25A-Solid-State-Relay-SSR-DC-In-AC-Out-P61.aspx)
Aquarium pump (for sous vide only, to mix the water up): http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0048B1M1I/ (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0048B1M1I/)
Tubing for the aquarium pump: http://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Air-Line-Tubing-Aquariums/dp/B0002AQI9K/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_b (http://www.amazon.com/Silicone-Air-Line-Tubing-Aquariums/dp/B0002AQI9K/ref=pd_bxgy_k_img_b)
And of course, the roaster: (dont have to get what I got and look for a sale somewhere - especially now when it's after the holidays, stores get rid of them knowing no one will do a turkey or holiday ham for a while now and they take up a lot of their storage room...) http://www.target.com/Oster-White-Roaster-18-Quart/dp/B003V5GUZU/ (http://www.target.com/Oster-White-Roaster-18-Quart/dp/B003V5GUZU/)

A note about wires: Go to your local Radio Shack or lighting/hardware store and make sure you get a couple of ft of high-temp cable. Normal appliance wire will melt and may even catch fire under the heating element.  A typical high temp cable has braided insulation over a silicone or other heat-resistant insulation and looks like this:
(http://images.fuzing.com/members/2/72/00025272/42854.300x300.jpg)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 09, 2011, 06:12:25 PM
Quote from: =steampwr8
Thermocouples are easy to understand. They are simply two wires made of two unlike metal alloys. Most of what we use in the food industry are called type K. One wire is made of chromel, the other wire is made of alumel. They are welded together at the end to form a bead.

When this bead is heated or cooled it was found that the two metals expand at different rates and as they do they also generate a small amount of voltage in direct proportion to temperature. We plug this wire into the PID and internal circuitry is used to convert the voltage to temperature. The rest of the PID is a computer that can use this data to control our cheese vat by turning on and off the heater at our set temps.

Thanks Steam. I should clarify I know what a thermocouple is - e.g., in my own experience, there are even home versions of CCVs for fermentation, with glycol jacketing and PID control - though I gained some proficiency with TIG welding and built my own SS, 1/2 bbl brewing system, never got to the point where I would venture the Unitank with glycol coolant, but understood the process; but just, as I say, unclear as to where the probe goes in this setup.  (I think, something analogous to your question on using the inner/outer shell, and using/not using a water bath...I'm just confused as to literally where the sensor is placed).

The sensor would be either in the jacketing (water) bath, or milk itself, in order to send the (differential, given the setpoint) signal, yes?  And if I understood correctly, iratherfly didn't want it in the milk (one more sanitization issue, milk stone, and obstructing cutting and stirring, as he mentions); so imagine it must be in the water jacket. 

As I've never used a turkey roaster - maybe I'm just missing what it is?  Is it not something like a soup warmer, with an outer shell - into which you can put water, for instance, which is temperature controlled - and an inner shell, the "double boiler" effect?  And it's this inner shell which is either used to contain the milk (cheese vat) or water (sous vide)?

iratherfly, thanks a bunch.  Fascinating, compelling stuff, and thanks, too, for the additional info. :)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: DETERMINED on January 09, 2011, 06:50:15 PM
In my sausage making experience holding meat between 40 f-140 f in an anaerobic environment without nitrate treatment is the perfect breeding ground for botulism toxin.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Buck47 on January 09, 2011, 08:28:12 PM
I will try to put water in the mother well but don't know how much water I can realistically put there. 

Hey iratherfly,

Fine post !

I'm using a Hamilton Beach 18 qt and I find 10 cups of water in the main tank (shell) work for me with a four gallon load.

Another benefit of using the roaster design is for sterilizing equipment prior to a cheese make.  I place all my stuff in the vat along with 2 cups water -- set it on the stove and heat to a solid steam for 15 min. leave the lid on till morning and I'm ready to go. ;D

Also pressing under whey is easy.

BTW: nice job on the engineering. well done.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 09, 2011, 08:34:05 PM
Buck 47 - you make a great point and thanks for the tip. Thanks for giving me a clue about how much water to try out. Are you using it to heat your milk now? At what temp do you turn it off if you for example, want a 90F milk and have 4 gallons in?

Determined, have you cooked sous vide before?  The first stage in sous vide cooking is pasteurization. There are charts all over the internet that show you how long you need to keep each type of food in sous vide before it is fully safe. (these are minimum times. After these times you can keep most foods for hours in the machine).  The second part of cooking is the breaking down of proteins and fats which tenderizes the food - actual cooking.  A typical steak or lamb chop can be done in sous vide in 45 minute but for safety we give it 2 hours - by that time nothing had survived.  Since the target temp is fixed and this is indeed anaerobic (vacuum), there is no overcooking, loss of moisture or oxidation. The steak will still be warm and perfect medium 8 hours later.

140F is the inner temperature of a perfect steak and a prime effective yet gentle pasteurization temp. Since the cooking time is well beyond the pasteurization time, everything is well pasteurized by the time you are done. In fact, you couldn't get such results cooking steak on a pan or grill even if you wanted to. Grilling meat the entire 9 minutes requires to pasteurize it will make it quite far from enjoyable medium. Proper sous vide is therefore actually safer.

Pathogens, like people are sluggish when cold, happiest at lukewarm temperature, and die in high heat rather quickly...  According to the FDA getting rid of E.Coli and Salmonella in foods requires:
86 min at 130F
27 min at 135F
9 min at 140F
3 min at 145F
52 sec at 150F
5 sec at 160F
1.6 sec at 165F

Even if you like it rare at 130F, after 2 hours and still perfect rare - it will be safer than any steak you've ever had. In spite of that, it is still recommended that if food is not consumed immediately it should be rabidly chilled and consumed within 3 days. The rapid chilling is done to shorten the time in which the food is at the "danger zone" temperature range, where bacteria loves to breed. You go from hot and dead to cold and sluggish without spending too much time at the happy and breeding zone.

Here is a very good resource that explains and charts out sous vide safety: http://www.sousvidesupreme.com/en-us/sousvide_cookingtemperatures.htm (http://www.sousvidesupreme.com/en-us/sousvide_cookingtemperatures.htm)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 09, 2011, 08:46:29 PM
Buck, BTW, nod to you for the idea of a roaster for me in the first place.  Now that I've learned from iratherfly's help (thanks for the generosity again!), I see a former soup warmer in the works.... ;)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 09, 2011, 08:52:00 PM
I just wonder if you guys will also use it to sous vide.  Where's DeejayDebi? Woulf love to hear from the meat master herself!
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: DETERMINED on January 10, 2011, 12:42:13 AM
iratherfly   No I have not cooked Sous Vide before.
 Interesting information on the link you posted.
Quote from the link;

"[So if you hold a roast beef that has been vacuum packed in a Foodsaver bag for five or six hours, there should be no question that all of the common bacteria has been inactivated, and that amount of time at 130 degrees F should be sufficient to inactivate 99.9 percent of all botulism toxin molecules (not there should be any in a fresh piece of meat, of course!)

However, sous vide temperatures are not enough to kill bacterial spores, in particular C. botulinum, which is responsible for botulism. This requires temperatures far in excess of boiling water at sea level. For example, home canning protocols recommend holding the food product at 250 degrees F for at least 15 minutes. This is an issue in the restaurant business because very often food would be cooked sous vide, and then stored in the vacuum sealed bags for potentially weeks (yes, you could be eating an extremely expensive meal at a top-end French restaurant that had been cooked several weeks ago, and reheated just before serving; yummy, no?). If the food packages aren’t cooled quickly enough, and then allowed to warm to the danger zone, it’s possible that in the anerobic environment the C. botulinum spores could germinate and then start producing toxin. But, if you are cooking home sous vide where you are serving the food right after it has been cooked, this shouldn’t be a concern.]"

I did not realize that a lower temp over a longer period would have the same effect as the higher temperature on the toxins.
For a meal you are going to eat right away I can see it working fine but storage for any amount of time under household conditions could be hazardous.

In sausage making the goal is to eliminate the botulism not just the toxins for a short term.
Dave
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 10, 2011, 06:08:15 AM
Yes, I understand the process, I have been curing meats too.

The thing is that no matter how you look at it, with the pasteurization that happens in sous vide -everything is safer!

True, it doesn't remove botulism spores - but the same can be said for cooking steak in a grill or a pan. That is unless you burn everything to a 'very well done' - but who wants that?  As long as you want a nice medium steak which is 140F in the center, you will not remove the spores, no matter what.  Sous vide however is safer because it does kill the E.Coli and Salmonela which CANNOT be killed in standard cooking of a medium steak.

But also, this isn't a factory; I cook dinner not to pack it and have it traveled thousands of miles and get handled by 30 people for a week before it gets to someone's kitchen. I cook at home for immediate consumption, my kitchen is clean and I use ingredients that are high quality from reputable sources. It's a matter of being responsible and this should never have botulism, E.Coli or Salmonella in it. In the wrong hand however, even the freshest ingredient can be turned into a disease agent. But I also think there is way too much germophobia going around in this country.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Sailor Con Queso on January 10, 2011, 08:22:26 PM
Botulism spores are not a problem unless you are storing long term.

There are basically 2 kinds of food poisoning.

1- The toxin is created before being ingested - like botulism. Even if the spores multiply, the toxin is easily destroyed with adequate cooking.

2- The organism creates the toxin in your body after being ingested - like E. coli.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 10, 2011, 08:34:53 PM
Thanks Sailor, that's exactly why I think sous vide is so safe!
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Myrrh on January 10, 2011, 08:59:08 PM
I've seen some discussions of doing something similar with an electric chafing pan. Do any of you smart creative folk have any thoughts as to the advantages or disadvantages of using a electric roaster versus an electric chafing dish for this sort of set-up?

Love the discussion. Hopefully I'll take the plunge soon and get away from using a pot on the stove. 2 gallons of milk at a time is so little cheese for the effort.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 10, 2011, 09:11:50 PM
Hey, 2 gallons can give you a bunch of Camemberts, a fleet of Crottins, a flock of Saint Marcellin or an army of Cabecu! It's all in how you look at it :)

I think chafing dish is almost the same. Actually it is possible it has an even gentler heat. The only thing I would watch out for is -where is the heating element located at? and, can you get a single large tray or is it buffet style with all these tiny hot food compartments?
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Buck47 on January 10, 2011, 09:16:37 PM
Hey Myrrh,

I've been pleased with the turkey roaster, I have found the ability to raise and hold a temp very easy. Also the rectangular shape is easy for me to work with.

That said, an 18 qt. size will only make one 6-7inch cheese. That's fine for now, however my goal is to make 12 inch wheels. So I'm starting to look at the same design hence a large chafing style vat.

One thing nice about the turkey roaster is it heats from the sides. Whereas a chafing/waterbath heater heats from the bottom.

I have found I can make an 8inch Tomme from four gallons of Raw milk in the roaster.

Hope this has been of help. Regards: john
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 11, 2011, 04:43:58 PM
*** UPDATE #1 ***
Please enjoy my friends Lisa and Abe description of the build on their sous vide blog:
http://qandabe.com/2011/01/10/100-diy-cheese-vatsous-vide-circulating-bath/ (http://qandabe.com/2011/01/10/100-diy-cheese-vatsous-vide-circulating-bath/)

*** UPDATE #2 ***
Now also posted on Make Magazine blog:
http://makeprojects.com/Project/Digital-cheese-vat-sous-vide-circulating-bath/512/1 (http://makeprojects.com/Project/Digital-cheese-vat-sous-vide-circulating-bath/512/1)

More photos, comments, technical details and connection diagrams on those posts!
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Spoons on January 11, 2011, 11:53:14 PM
Now that's a weekend project I'm looking forward to. Thanks iratherfly! One cheese for you  ;D
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 12, 2011, 12:03:39 AM
My stuff is due to arrive this week, and combing for a cheap roaster.  One less thing crowding my wife in our kitchen...one more thing crowding everywhere else. ;D

Sincerely, many thanks iratherfly, a great resource. :)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Bishop on January 12, 2011, 08:06:32 AM
Great photo's
Great instructions
Great Idea
Thanks for sharing

I agree with spoons - thumbs up
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 12, 2011, 09:10:33 AM
Woo hoo! Thanks for all the cheese you guys!  Please refer to the other two blog posts I mentioned in my previous post for connection instructions and more photos. Also please read my comments in both blogs about my small revision afterthought.

Send me a message or share here any questions or problems you may have!
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: KosherBaker on January 13, 2011, 05:34:18 AM
Yoav awesome job.
However, sous vide temperatures are not enough to kill bacterial spores, in particular C. botulinum, which is responsible for botulism.
Dave, my understanding is that vacuuming something lowers its boiling temperature significantly, and that this is in fact the principle that makes sous vide cooking so unique. In fact, you can sometimes witness a liquid boiling, at room temperature, as it is being vacuum sealed. :)
Although, I can't find any info on what effect, this has on any harmful bacteria.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: DETERMINED on January 13, 2011, 08:33:35 PM
KosherBaker
 Atmospheric pressure {or vacuum}has effect on what temperature water boils at
for example at sea level water boils at 212 f I live at an elevation of app 2000 feet so my water theoretically boils at 208 f.
When I use my pressure cooker for example I must run it at a higher pressure than somebody at sea level would to compensate for the altitude so that I can obtain the 240 f required to kill any botulism spores in canned food.
Many strains of bacteria are lab cultured {cheese cultures}and or stored in vacuum vials {cattle vaccine}
I do not believe the vacuum under these conditions has any negative effect on the bacteria or toxins.  If anything the vacuum creates an anaerobic environment in which bacteria such as botulism thrives.
It is only the high temperatures or as pointed out by iratherfly sustained lower temperatures utilized in sous vide that destroy the toxins when cooking is the only control method being used.
 Botulism,E-coli,salmonella are becoming less of a concern with improved quality of the food supply but many people still eat wild meat that does not meet the same standards,not to mention things like trichinosis.
All I am trying to say is sous vide likely can produce fantastic results but proper training in the process should be mandatory,
Dave
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 22, 2011, 04:35:55 PM
Just something additional to toss in here.  My neighbor deals in telecom, and is pretty at home in electronic stuff.  After seeing where I was going with this, based on the design, he had another thought, and that was to leave the roaster intact, and put the guts of the PID, SSR, before the roaster, in a simple plug outlet; so that the plug of the roaster plugs into the controlling assembly.  This way, no "joints" where stuff is split inside the roaster, the whole thing is wired 16 ga. (which is the ga. of the roaster power, anyway), and so heating up is less of an issue.  He's also got a nifty junction box ready-made, and he's cutting it out for the PID, so it should be pretty high and tight when I'm through.  Anyway, FYI.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 23, 2011, 06:15:56 PM
OK, well, I did an assembly, using the following rough (sorry for the playlot schematic...only using Paint) schematic:

(http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p316/pkphotodo/PIDassembly-1.png)

I programmed, etc.  Got a set point of whatever (I tried 84.6), but the flashing "PV" light only bounced between 9.8-10.0 - way off, somewhere, since I used water as the liquid to heat up. 

On the PID, I got AL1, AL2, and Out lights on; AT was off.  (what is the AT?).

On the roaster, the only mod I did was to hook the red power and (right side, looking down with thermostat closest to you) white heating element wires to the same tab on the roaster thermostat- effectively, closing the circuit and bypassing the roaster thermostat, as I understand from my pal, who gave me this approach. 

The thermocouple has 1 red spade terminal, 2 blue spade terminals - not the red, blue and green of the schematic on Yoav's friend's site.  I put red on PID 8, and the two blue on 9, 10. 

Any diagnosis of the above?  I used 16 gauge everywhere, and simply split an extension chord - "white" = white of the roaster, "black" = red of the roaster.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 24, 2011, 07:54:47 AM
Yes, I think I mentioned earlier it's in Celsius. 84 is kind of a lot!

Your connections are about right. I have my red wire going to SSR1 and then connected also to PID1. My white wire goes to SSR2 and then to PID2. You have it the other way around but I don't think it matters since its AC power.
SSR3 goes to PID6 and SSR4 goes to PID7.  Lastly, the thermocouple's red wire connects to PID8 and the two blue wires go to PID9 and PID10

Programming:
It seems that the following programming instructions would  give you the best results for bot sous vide and cheesemaking. It's as accurate as 0.2 of 1 degree Celsius! (Thanks for coming up with this one, Abe).  Here is the sequence:
 - Press set, enter 0036. Scroll so p is blinking
 - Press set, set the value to 000.2
 - Press set again, scroll to I
 - Press set,  use 1999
 - Press set again, scroll to d
 - Press set, change the value to 0000.
 - Press set, scroll to end.
 - Press set

Anoter about heating, overheating and PID.
The PID sends long bursts of electricity to the heating element when it knows it has a large range of temperature still to overcome (such as raising milk from 8C to 31C). This will cause milk to overheat to about 34C.  However, when the PID only needs to adjust the temp gently (say, from 29C to 31C) it will send short bursts and wait for the thermocouple reading. And so the best practice when heating milk is to do it in two stages: First set it to slightly lower temp than desired like 26C which will overheat it to about 29C. When that stabilizes adjust the PID to 31C and it will finish the temp rising in gentle short bursts. I was shocked by how quickly it worked. I pulled 4 gallons of milk from 8C to 31C (that's 43F to 88F) in 10 minutes. (stirring gently to prevent scalding)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 24, 2011, 08:09:21 AM
Yoav, many thanks!  Even before I changed the programming, for some reason, finally, AL1 remained constant, AL2 began to tick - presumably, working, and temp would ramp up.  I changed the programming, and though there was a short lag, AL2 began to tick, again.  Knock on wood, I think we're on - many thanks, to you and to Abe! 

I do see how sensitive the TC is, so will try some means to dampen it (latex glove, etc.).  Right now, it's all just exposed, but today, will likely be installing it in a steel enclosure.  Will report after it goes through its paces.

This is a fantastic idea!
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 24, 2011, 09:42:45 AM
I cover the TC with a latex glove and push the air put of it, then tape the back of it shut on the TC wire. The TC will rust it you keep it in liquid (and according to Abe and Lisa if water penetrates the back of it, the reading may be affected too) - so wrap it up!

Made a few good runs with it doing sous vide last week. Here's a buffalo (bison) steak. At 140F it was tender and melted like butter, totally red; end to end! (the caramelized crust is done with a torch)
(http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg616/scaled.php?tn=0&server=616&filename=pvwj.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640)
(http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg615/scaled.php?tn=0&server=615&filename=dv5o.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640)
(http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg614/scaled.php?tn=0&server=614&filename=dfve.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640)

And then it was finally time for cheese: (Notice the latex on the thermocouple)
(http://desmond.yfrog.com/Himg615/scaled.php?tn=0&server=615&filename=s93mx.jpg&xsize=640&ysize=640)
This became 5Lbs of Tommes which will be washed with German Weiss (wheat beer, perfect for this!)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 25, 2011, 06:43:37 PM
Sorry to bump, as opposed to editing a previous post (John, please let me know if this is verboten, and I'll amend accordingly), just hopeful someone with more electrical know-how than I have, can suggest a thought.

Well - wired according to:  (warning, pdf), page 8 (http://www.e3b6a5y.com/365/WiringDiagrams/new2006power.pdf). 

Heats up very quickly - the SSR gets really hot, and I can see how one has to watch scorching along the milk.  (I set password 89, inty=PT10.0, and for some reason outy =0, so I reset to outy=2; I also tried the PID regimen described above, pass=0036, P=000.2, I=1999, and D =000; NOTE: Yoav, if you're watching, in my unit, "D" does not allow 0000, just a blank first digit, then 000...presume this is the same).  It pings and heats up fine, and kicks off if PV>SV.

However, the unit was smoking.  Bad.  I freaked, as there's nothing but hi-temp, fiberglass insulated 16 gauge wire (the gauge of the unit itself, so thought this would be a better choice, in terms of drawing heat, then 18 gauge).  Disassembled, ran again, couldn't see anything on any wire or junction. 

What I did find is that the fiberglass itself, all along the heating element band, was getting seriously fried.  Burnt.  What's up with this?  Is there something simple-stupid I'm missing here?  Is this some weird thing that can be cured, re: the fiberglass? 

I hear a short buzz concomitant with the "on" light of the PID and 3-relay light of the SSR pinging on.  Eventually, the system stops pinging, and the lights and heat just stays on. 

Is this a problem?  Is it supposed to continually "ping" on and off, so that it has a chance to cool down, or does it eventually just stay "on" until PV=SV?

Anyway, totally lost as to what's going on.  I would have thought the heat would be expected, not sure why the fiberglass would go gonzo; any thoughts on why this would be "too much" such that the fiberglass surrounding the band smokes like this? 

The only thing I could figure out is that perhaps the fiberglass isn't supposed to directly touch the metal band; there are some ceramic "spreaders" in several places, attached to the metal heating element, with a metal prod sticking out away from the element, presumably to keep the fiberglass away.  Yoav...is any of this something you ran up against?

Any help, appreciated.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 26, 2011, 09:12:05 AM
It actually sounds like this is working fine.

The short buzz whenever the unit pings on is normal.

The very quick and high heating is normal too.


Did you put water or milk in it to test it?  I put a couple of cups of water in the roaster, and then put the pan in it. I then fill up the pan with a couple of gallons of water for testing purposes.

The lip of the roaster is heated and it heats the body of the roaster; really hot
this is an engineering flaw on these roasters, even if you were to use it for the turkey it was meant to roast.

HOWEVER... when you get to temperature, the PID only sends short pings and the lip and extreme heat relaxes and the lip and body cools down, as well as the SSR.  It should hold steady temp for hours, even days with nothing over heating. This is why I also suggested to heat milk in two stages.

Is it just getting hot? Or do things actually smoke?  The heat is normal - this is why I switched to these ceramic terminals and heat resistant wires (the ones with the fiberglass braiding).

If you still think that this is a programming error, disconnect, reconnect and do it again.
Also, are you using the same thermocouple I am using? If not, let me know. The PID is set in this program to recognize THIS SPECIFIC TYPE of thermocouple and work with it. If you are using a different type, you would need a different programming instructions.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 26, 2011, 12:20:32 PM
Thanks, Iratherfly.  As it turns out, I guess, "smoking and odor" are normal with these roasters, the first time or two they're used.  The fine print of my roaster's manual says so, and, lol...I've seen some users on the web complain of all their smoke alarms going crazy, and having to clear the house.  Didn't know that was endemic to these machines, so ascribed it to something I had done, possibly, in the Frankensteinian remake. 

I don't think there's anything wrong, except for the fact these things fry fiberglass.  As I said, no wiring was getting hot (do have two ceramic junctions on board, and the only wiring that gets remotely hot is the hot side heating element wiring - but everything is well insulated, etc.).  Will watch carefully today to make sure it's "normal" smoking per the thing and....pray.  Though I'm an atheist. ;D

Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on January 30, 2011, 09:06:35 AM
How did it go?
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: ArnaudForestier on January 30, 2011, 09:20:05 AM
How did it go?


Haven't posted in a while as I've got just a couple things coming before finalizing my first serious batches (pH110, Star-San, and the heat sink (http://www.auberins.com/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=2&products_id=45) you recommended.  I jury rigged a sort of heat sink, but would feel better doing a true one, esp. as I noticed the SSR site itself says the relay could get damaged without one....so thanks for that heads up). 

That said, indeed, after one serious run at about an hour holding 60C, no smoke.  Overshot, like you said, by a couple of degrees, but works fantastic.  I did see somewhere, where one could actually program the PID offset, if the temp "misreading" is off in a linear way, will look more into that.  Other than that, will just do the two-stage heating schedule like you recommend, and all systems go. 

Many thanks again, to you and your pals, Yoav!
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Minamyna on February 23, 2011, 04:40:51 AM
I just ordered all the pieces, going to have my husband build me one of these!
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: northbynate on April 18, 2011, 03:04:10 AM
Iratherfly,

I made a PID controller a while back and accidentally ran into your build.  What a great idea!  I just got an 18qt roaster to give it a shot and ran into a couple issues I was hoping you could give me advice on.  First I used 8 cups water in the inner well and around two gallons of water in the main pan for testing.  I turned the sucker on and, after the obligatory initial use smoking, noticed a rather steep gradient in temperature in the water main pan.  It turns out my roaster heats from the sides like yours but in mine this results in really uneven heating.  Finally on to my question!  I noticed you use a blubber in your set up to promote even heat distribution.  Do you use the bubbler on the inner water jacket or strait into the milk?  Also do you put the TC right into the milk or in that water jacket?  If so during initial heat up I would worry that the high heat of the roaster rim would melt the bubbler hose and throw off the temp reading from the TC.  How did you go about addressing these issues?  Thanks again for the great idea!

-Nate
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: rlatta on April 18, 2011, 05:32:30 PM
We did something similar for sous vide and recently tried it with our electric chafing dish to make cheese.

I think I need a way to circulate the water in the base as the heat seems concentrated at the bottom.

I used the instructions found here:
http://www.instructables.com/id/Sous-Vide-temperature-controller-for-50-100/ (http://www.instructables.com/id/Sous-Vide-temperature-controller-for-50-100/)
...but added a green LED near the outlet so I could see when 'Suzy' was supplying juice.

I would agree with setting the temp a few degrees below target...I overshot a bit, but then I calibrated for water with a pump circulating, not milk.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on April 24, 2011, 09:43:22 PM
Northbynate, Sorry for the late reply, I was out of the country for 3 weeks anf just got back to business....

Yes, it heats it from the sides but with the PID controller it needs to pulse the heat on and off and do it less often when you get to temperature and then just keep the temperature stable. This pulsing prevents scalding.

As for the bubbler - please note that I ONLY use it for sous vide function. Do not use it with for cheesemaking.  Water (used in sous vide) is not nearly as dense as milk and does not keep temperature and therefore it needs to be mixed around. Sous Vide cooking can easily take 6-8 hours so a bubbler can really help assure even heating.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: susanky on April 24, 2011, 11:59:48 PM
I think I have this same roaster.  And I started to use it tonight.  But wondered what it was made of and if it was OK for cheese.  It looks the same as yours.  Black enamel?   A magnet sticks.  I thought magnets only stuck to stainless, but wasn't sure.

If I wanted it to be simpler ('cause I'm just not that handy, or electrically inclined), can't I just float the inner pan (which is removable) in water and use it like a double boiler? 
Susan
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on April 25, 2011, 01:24:49 AM
Probably the same Susan.  The problem is that it's so strong that I am afraid that it will overheat and scald the milk. You can buy an external sous vide controller which will do the trick without any technical know how.

Here's what one looks like: http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200581629447#vi-content (http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=200581629447#vi-content)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: susanky on April 25, 2011, 03:14:27 AM
Mikeradio recommended a controller in another thread.  I think I will get one.  If you put water around the pan probably wouldn't scald the milk?  Just may not have as much control over temp.  I guess that means that whatever material this roaster is made of is fine for cheesemaking?  Do you know what it is?
Susan
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on April 25, 2011, 11:11:31 PM
Well, it's enamled so it should be fine. I just find that it doesn't fill the water right in the external well. If you put a little too much water to get it to protect it by going to the top when you insert the internal well - water may overflow on the electricals... quite annoying as a double boiler.

On the other hand, try it once and see how it works. Mix the milk repeatedly while warming it up to prevent the damage of scalding. (It will be partially scalded but the good thing is that it won't develop too much other bacteria because the heating will be so quick, so it will make your starter culture very efficient)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Mordarageek on June 22, 2011, 03:18:10 PM
Greetings!

Sorry to resurrect an old post, but I found your instructions on Make, then the link to Abe's blog, and finally this thread. I thought I'd have a go at what promises to be a very useful piece of equipment, so I ordered the parts and managed to assemble everything according to the above instructions.

The device itself works fine. I placed a half-gallon of water in the basin and filled the liner with a couple gallons of water  to test. Initially, I used pass 0039 and setting pt10.0. The PID would raise the water temperature to the set amount (with a slight bit of overheating) and then cycle on and off to maintain that temperature. The problem is that even though the temp is holding at what the RTD says is 40C, when I tried to verify with a candy thermometer, the thermometer read 48C. I double-checked with a roasting thermometer and confirmed 48C. Next, I boiled a pot of water and inserted the RTD, and it only read 83C. So the probe reading is inaccurate and not in a linear manner.

At first, I though I had gotten the wrong probe from Lightobject (mine had a red wire and two blue wires). But reading further through the thread, I found ArnaudForestier's post referencing the same probe. After following the more detailed programming instructions in the response to Arnaud's post, I repeated my temperature tests and got the same results. I'm still learning about controllers and temperature sensors and can't do much more than follow instructions at this point. Can anyone help me troubleshoot? Do I have a bad RTD? Do I have this wired wrong?

Any help would be much appreciated.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on June 27, 2011, 07:17:41 PM
Abe actually gave somewhere later a different more precise programming instructions where the accuracy is far higher and the response time if quicker. I am ashamed to say  I cannot find them (he actually came over and helped me in person here) but I am sure him (and Q) can help you if you contact them on their blog.

Mine is dead accurate now.  I do only use it for larger cheeses because the position of the heating element is too high to be effective with 1-2gal makes.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Tom Turophile on June 25, 2012, 09:07:36 PM
I can't believe I just found this thread (through some other googling for DIY sous vide).  This thing should be pinned!
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: linuxboy on June 25, 2012, 09:09:08 PM
You can sort by views to see the most popular threads.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on June 26, 2012, 12:15:57 AM
If you think this is great, check out what this project ended up developing to!


I am happy to report that Lisa and Abe have since not only created a hit DYI Sous Vide kit, but also joined a technology startup accelerator that sent them to China, where they worked for 6 months on developing and designing an actual Sous Vide appliance for home. The gorgeous prototype is already working and they have put the project up on Kickstarter.  They asked for $200,000 public backing on the site within 30 days and after only 8 days they already have $150,000 pledge from almost 500 people!

People, this will solve your home cheese vat issues!

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nomiku/nomiku-bring-sous-vide-into-your-kitchen?ref=category (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nomiku/nomiku-bring-sous-vide-into-your-kitchen?ref=category)


Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Tom Turophile on June 26, 2012, 03:19:57 AM
If you think this is great, check out what this project ended up developing to!


I am happy to report that Lisa and Abe have since not only created a hit DYI Sous Vide kit, but also joined a technology startup accelerator that sent them to China, where they worked for 6 months on developing and designing an actual Sous Vide appliance for home. The gorgeous prototype is already working and they have put the project up on Kickstarter.  They asked for $200,000 public backing on the site within 30 days and after only 8 days they already have $150,000 pledge from almost 500 people!

People, this will solve your home cheese vat issues!

[url]http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nomiku/nomiku-bring-sous-vide-into-your-kitchen?ref=category[/url] ([url]http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nomiku/nomiku-bring-sous-vide-into-your-kitchen?ref=category[/url])


That's how I stumbled on it; I had looked at DIY sous vide for a while, but saw a story on cnet on Nomiku...which eventually led me your post, and then (back) here.  I don't know how I missed it a year ago :)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on June 26, 2012, 03:24:19 AM
Where was the story? I am so proud of them!
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: Tom Turophile on June 26, 2012, 01:45:24 PM
http://www.cnet.com/8301-13553_1-57458995-32/immersion-circulator-bubbles-sous-vide-forward/?tag=cnetRiver (http://www.cnet.com/8301-13553_1-57458995-32/immersion-circulator-bubbles-sous-vide-forward/?tag=cnetRiver)
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: eVenom on August 05, 2012, 10:00:45 PM
Iiratherfly did you ever find the PID Programming or maybe have the an even newer one from your friend Abe?

I have been out of the cheese making hobby for a year and now am jumping back in. Before I was limited to 2 gallons and I want to start making closer to 5 - 6. I have ordered all the stuff to make this vat and am also exited about using it as a Sous Vide machine.

For around 130 bucks after u buy everything is a very sweet deal.
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: iratherfly on August 06, 2012, 07:51:08 AM
What do you mean? Do I know the programming sequence? Didn't I post it?

My friends Abe and Lisa, I am happy to say -have taken this to a whole new level. Rather than PID, wires, turkey roasters and programming, they did this: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nomiku/nomiku-bring-sous-vide-into-your-kitchen (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nomiku/nomiku-bring-sous-vide-into-your-kitchen)

Just used the Sous Vide last week, amazing lamb chops. I have a crazy new butane torch too...  Keep this thread posted on your project!  Do you need the programming sequence for this PID?
Title: Re: DYI $100 Digital Cheese Vat / Sous Vide Machine! (Photos) - A full guide!
Post by: eVenom on August 06, 2012, 09:14:25 PM
Abe actually gave somewhere later a different more precise programming instructions where the accuracy is far higher and the response time if quicker. I am ashamed to say  I cannot find them (he actually came over and helped me in person here) but I am sure him (and Q) can help you if you contact them on their blog.

Mine is dead accurate now.  I do only use it for larger cheeses because the position of the heating element is too high to be effective with 1-2gal makes.

I have the original programming that you posted but later in this thread I saw this post^^^^^ and was wondering if you had an even better programming.

I saw the Nomiku and is very impressive but I mainly want this as a cheese vat...