Cold Storage in Deer Camp

Ever thought about quartering, ice, cooler for about 5 days and doing your own processing? I'ts not that hard and you get your own clean meat.

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wouldnt what he's trying to do work for a temporary 3 or 4 day storage place to keep meat just cool and away from animals, is the 40 degree mark an absolute necessity...i guess im asking cause theres been talk around our lease about getting a small 10 x 8 demod out freezer unit (we have available)putting a window unit it in to keep meat cool from possibly friday evening till sunday morning on drive home_____Just Wondering???

Bacteria won't multiply in the colder temperatures of a refrigerator or freezer, or at temperatures hotter than 141°F. Where they thrive is between 41°F and 140°F, a region known as the "Food Temperature Danger Zone."

It will work with some modifications, go to a commercial refigeration supply place tell them what your wanting to do and they can hook you up with the proper thermostat. I have a converted storage building 8'x8' with this setup, it's cheaper to operate than my 6'x6' freezer and will hold the temp around 40 deg. pretty well.

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The graph below shows how an operating control cycles. The control is set to start refrigeration if the box warms up to 40 ºF That's called the Cut In point. The system keeps running until it reaches the Cut Out point which is 37 ºF where it shuts off and awaits the next call for cooling. In this example there is a 3 ºF differential between the cut in and cut out points. The differential must be wide enough that the equipment does not short cycle. Short cycling means to turn on and off too rapidly. Starting is hard on the equipment, so you want to keep the number of starts per hour to a reasonable amount, not an excessive amount. The 40 ºF point is a very special temperature. It is the standard cut in point for most refrigeration systems. Above 40 ºF bacterial growth rates in stored food increase dramatically. Below 40 ºF bacteria growth rate is subdued.

The cut out point is more of a compromise than anything else. Some products may store better at colder temperatures but colder temperatures might adversely affect other products in the same box. There is also a concern about keeping the evaporator from icing up. There is no active defrost system in a standard refrigeration system. (defrost systems are only a standard item with freezers) If a refrigeration system was set to cut in at 36 ºF and cut out at 33 ºF and the evaporator was operating with a 7 ºF TD to the box air, the temperature of the evaporator fins would be 29 ºF to 26 ºF during the run cycle. Since the freezing point of water is 32 ºF, you can see that moisture in the air would sublimate onto the evaporator surface and grow into thicker and thicker layers of ice. Not only does ice act like an insulator and reduce thermal transfer, it can totally block airflow through the evaporator fins and virtually stop thermal transfer. Some people try to push this wall a little and it is possible to squeak out a degree or 2 colder than a 40 ºF cut in point. However, anything more than a couple of degrees will risk icing the evaporator.

A countering force is the "off cycle defrost" effect. Since a typical refrigerator is designed to maintain 40 ºF, the recirculating air will tend to melt ice build up on the evaporator during the times it has it has cycled off. There are of course refrigeration systems that are designed to operate in the 35 ºF (and colder) range. However these typically have some form of defrost system. Systems that are designed to operate below 32 ºF are freezers with defrost systems and they typically operate in temperature ranges like: 0 ºF, -10 ºF, -15 ºF as well as much colder.

http://www.refrigerationbasics.com/1024x768/controls1.htm

The A419 series controls are single-stage, electronic temperature controls with a Single-Pole, Double-Throw (SPDT) output relay. They feature a lockable front-panel touchpad for setup and adjustment, and a Liquid Crystal Display (LCD) for viewing the temperature and status of other functions. A Light-Emitting Diode (LED) indicates the controls? output relay On/Off status. The A419 controls are available in 24 VAC or 120/240 VAC powered models. The A419 controls have heating and cooling modes, adjustable setpoint and differential, an adjustable anti-short cycle delay, and a temperature offset function. The setpoint range is -30 to 212°F (-34 to 100°C). The controls feature remote sensing capability and interchangeable sensors. The A419 controls are available in either NEMA 1, high-impact plastic enclosure suitable for surface or DIN rail mounting or NEMA 4X watertight, corrosion-resistant surface-mount enclosures.
http://www.pexsupply.com/Johnson-Control...l-120-240v-SPDT

Does anyone have any experience with a cold storage box in their deer camp?

We are thinking about building a 4'X8'X8' plywood box and double insulating it with the 4x8 styrofoam sheets of insulation. Two layers (about R-50) top, bottom and sides inside the box. Then add a 110v window a/c unit (5,000 BTU) through a cut out in the side.

We could hang up to 6 deer if we got lucky, more likely one or two.

We just need it to maintain 40 degrees or less, not looking for a freezer. It is an 1.5 hour round trip to the processor which makes for a late evening on a night kill. We just want a place for it to keep until we get a chance to go to the processor with a few more deer or hold it for the weekend until we can take the deer home and drop it off for processing.

Anyone have any experience with such a unit? Will it hold 40 degrees or below? Pictures? Thanks for your input.