tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-38586185632526938292024-02-07T13:19:15.964-06:00Make everythingJThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-40455665608846312362013-12-12T20:30:00.000-06:002013-12-13T15:50:06.419-06:00Cabinet Organization List Generator Program<a href="https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B2wId6q1LEQURUtyOGp4dkg5M1E/edit?usp=sharing">Download Cabinet List Generator</a><br />
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Several months ago, I revamped my spice cabinet organization scheme to accommodate the specific cabinet I chose to use for spices. An innovation of this accommodation was the inclusion of a piece of graph paper taped to the door of the cabinet, divided into three sections. These sections served to generally represent the location of the ingredient in the cabinet, and had column and row headers to indicate the nature of the row/column respectively. For the columns, the designations were:<br />
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<li>"Seeds, Pods, Roots and Mixes", meant for spice-like seasonings and mixes of herbs and spices</li>
<li>"Bulk", which served as the overflow for the left and right columns and held larger containers (e.g. quart-sized mason jars)</li>
<li>"Plant Matter and Crystals", meant for herbs and crystal compounds like salt or agar-agar.</li>
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While the row designations were:</div>
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<li>"Miscellaneous", meant for ingredients that did not fit well into the lower two row categories</li>
<li>"Herbs and Spices", meant for typical spice cabinet fare</li>
<li>"Salt, Pepper and Allium", which removed pepper and onion-like spices from the above row for the sake of packaging size (which is often larger for all three) and because the group of three feels very "basic", being more common to recipes in general than most other seasonings that would fit cleanly into the second row.</li>
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I must confess that I feel the list poorly abstracted in retrospect, though its clearly prototypical nature is usually accompanied by a certain inexperience or naivete. Additionally, it's a strong improvement over its immediate ancestor, in which I glued a piece of resilient paper to the front face of the shelves in my cabinet and simply wrote on it what type of spice was placed into the row immediately above the label.<br />
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A first benefit is the removal of <i>sheer</i> arbitration in deciding what goes where. For example, I had a row for single herbs and a row for spice mixes, but herb mixes like <i>herbes de provence</i> and <i>fines herbes</i> fit poorly into either category, while herb mixes as a whole are not common enough that a separate row would be appropriate (i.e. utilized enough to justify its existence). Another improvement is that the individual listing of each item allows for quick reference to see if the item is present in the cabinet (and exactly where it should go), removing the need to search through rows of spices thinking, for example, "I can't remember if I have star anise," and, conversely, not purchasing spices from the store only to later learn that a bottle of that spice was already owned. This individual listing has the added benefit, due to the fact that few spices filled the whole description space, of providing the opportunity to record when the spice was purchased, allowing me to more easily replace herbs and spices that are out of date.<br />
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There are some issues with the graph paper approach, however. The main problem is that hand-drawing such a list takes time every time one is made, and if mistakes are made in drawing the permanent (pen drawn) lines, the mistakes must either be tolerated or the list restarted on a new sheet. Since the labor cost of creating a new list was so high, it passively discouraged any experimentation with the list to optimize the categorization, and prevented me from trying to extend the concept to the organization of any of my other storage spaces. Working around grid lines also meant compromising on the size of the fields, and I found that the few spices that <i>did</i> flow to the end of a line usually left me in the position of trying to squeeze the purchased date into a very small space.<br />
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To combat these issues, I tried making lists on the computer, but found the process too tedious to do more than once, though the fact that I could print out many copies of the same list was helpful. Finding issue with the spacing and column distribution on the single manually-created list made on a computer, I resolved to create a program to automatically generate customized lists according to specified parameters. Though the program lacks some graphical interface polish, it accomplishes the task for which it was designed adequately. Currently, it only creates the structure of a list, with lines arranged in list format, though it prints off on a standard letter-sized piece of paper all of the way to the borders. Below is an example list that has had text added to the headers and sub-headers using a graphics editing program.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1G08YRz4yDq1UTliJv3cLH3A6kmDHmOGlqbTpI2QTZY05MGlfOdCzjsJGZWrpjv99mLYAWA_LGcayiz3ufPCAhH4czZzrevml7J_BYGtI9sKRA7vn3qirMg8J9lVJCP3szzfrDETNq22w/s1600/2-Column+2-SubColumn+3-Row.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh1G08YRz4yDq1UTliJv3cLH3A6kmDHmOGlqbTpI2QTZY05MGlfOdCzjsJGZWrpjv99mLYAWA_LGcayiz3ufPCAhH4czZzrevml7J_BYGtI9sKRA7vn3qirMg8J9lVJCP3szzfrDETNq22w/s1600/2-Column+2-SubColumn+3-Row.png" height="640" width="480" /></a></div>
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In addition to the above release of a portable executable (requires .NET 3.5 or above, or potentially Mono), I have released the code for the project in a <a href="https://github.com/OmniaFaciat/CabinetListGenerator">github repository</a> in case anyone would like to use it for other projects.<br />
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I will likely add a static page for the program when I get a chance, and will add any questions I am able to answer about its use to that page at that time. One thing I feel I should note about the program is that, while it is creating the list, it will appear as if the program has frozen and stopped working. This is not the case, it is working behind the scenes and will save your picture to the specified file when it is done.</div>
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JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-74216435628419951852013-10-30T10:45:00.003-05:002013-10-30T10:45:58.623-05:00Comments were not showingI recently noticed that comments were not showing on posts, and changed some settings to attempt to rectify the situation. I believe that I've done so, as I'm now seeing comments below posts, but I would ask that anyone that notices them not showing up would please notify me.Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00924716996533857072noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-81595398674756748212013-10-13T00:22:00.002-05:002013-11-19T07:40:04.798-06:00Seedling and Cutting Grow BoxAfter increasingly using thyme, marjoram, oregano and rosemary in my cooking recently, I resolved to purchase a plant of each, knowing they were on sale at a local grocery store. While I purchased a thyme plant--Thymus vulgaris, specifically--I forwent purchasing individual marjoram and oregano plants in favor of a hybrid of the two--Origanum x majoricum. Regarding the rosemary, I've noticed multiple rosemary plants near my home, and decided to take cuttings of the rosemary in lieu of purchasing a plant that I understand to be easily grown by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vegetative_reproduction#Artificial_vegetative_propagation">clonal propagation</a>. While in the past I've simply put cuttings I've taken in a bag under a light, I decided to convert an amazon shipping box to help these cuttings take root.<br />
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The box is a size 1BA (<span style="background-color: white; font-family: verdana, 'sans serif'; font-size: 14px; line-height: 18px;">19" x 12.25" x 11.25")</span>, that I received from Amazon for a moderately large delivery. I took said box and cut in half the front flaps, taping the top halves together and leaving the bottoms free to serve as doors. On the bottom of the top flaps, I used a strip of folded aluminum tape to serve as a sealing/light blocking strip which I duplicated for the right door, the latter of which is barely visible in the following picture of the unit with its doors opened.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrDeQNzl6E_wyYeEQvO_j_6rkhlERXA9WUlvoS2c7M9XA1sxHth3Uzx7gdZfwgaugSU1KNA-FD4l_k8ISbE5I1pjgNMYwWLhUyZ_JmrtUjlqOV783yuECfSlX7K2qOwPoNy3BOBMCncgi/s1600/Door+Open.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVrDeQNzl6E_wyYeEQvO_j_6rkhlERXA9WUlvoS2c7M9XA1sxHth3Uzx7gdZfwgaugSU1KNA-FD4l_k8ISbE5I1pjgNMYwWLhUyZ_JmrtUjlqOV783yuECfSlX7K2qOwPoNy3BOBMCncgi/s640/Door+Open.JPG" width="532" /></a></div>
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When the unit is sealed, very little light escapes through the doors as a result of the previous sealing strips and the inner flap of the box, which was retained in the final design, and which is held closed over the bottom of the doors by way of strips of duct tape that are fastened to the sides of the box. As you will see, there is also an upper, tapered flap that I attached for the purpose of duplicating the benefit of the bottom flap with regard to its light blocking potential, as well as its role in helping the doors stay shut, as pictured below.</div>
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Also included is a food-grade thermometer, pictured above, that is pressed through the tape above the door to provide a measurement of the temperature inside the unit. I've also glued a piece of white drawing paper to the front of the box for the purpose of recording when plants have been put in (which you'll notice I have forgotten to use for this first batch). When in use, the light that I've selected provides a sufficiently intense, even illumination for the plants.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4ZeaJlDEPq6dxJc3DsAQ_Yjo9sRdHJhZrUZ8t6V2ocFeWC6gfE3LyjwmKTBTEAEr0f3c5hFT75D7SS_8WmrpYVlci9XgUmeGe7wAjyWm0B9Wh3-jZ9U9PB_BNJ3bJ6yKxkChJdzrLeQR/s1600/Rosemary+Cuttings.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgS4ZeaJlDEPq6dxJc3DsAQ_Yjo9sRdHJhZrUZ8t6V2ocFeWC6gfE3LyjwmKTBTEAEr0f3c5hFT75D7SS_8WmrpYVlci9XgUmeGe7wAjyWm0B9Wh3-jZ9U9PB_BNJ3bJ6yKxkChJdzrLeQR/s320/Rosemary+Cuttings.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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The light I have selected is a <a href="http://www.amazon.com/dp/B008NNZSI0">Philips LED flood bulb</a> with a "Daylight" color profile (5000K white). This provides a very blue-tinted white light (as was <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:White_LED.png">typical with early "white" LEDs</a>), that <a href="http://www.ext.colostate.edu/mg/gardennotes/142.html">I understand</a> is well-suited to vegetative growth. </div>
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As an aside, the emission spectrum of these white LEDs (which are the same as "Royal Blue" LEDs, but with additional phosphors to even the light out to blueish-white by adding green-yellow-orange light) corresponds roughly to the lower absorption maximum for chlorophyll <i>b</i> (with peaks at 453nm and 642nm) while almost completely missing that of chlorophyll <i>a</i> (with peaks at 430nm and 662nm). Conversely, the red LEDs popular in flowering bulbs are usually red at 660nm, corresponding to the upper absorption maximum for chlorophyll <i>a</i>. To extend this briefly into speculation, <a href="http://www.cichlid-forum.com/articles/lighting_planted_tank.php">a page on planted aquarium lighting</a> indicates that red light stimulates "long, leggy growth" while blue light stimulates "compact, bushy growth", which, given the use of red LEDs for flowering and blue LEDs for sprouting, leads me to believe that chlorophyll <i>a</i> is mostly responsible for plants growing towards light and flowering, while chlorophyll <i>b</i> is more responsible for root formation and growth thickening.</div>
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That said, the bulb that I selected, while using LEDs, produces enough heat that I felt I should vent the box somewhat to allow the heat to escape. To do so, I cut holes in the left and top of the box, and covered the holes with lengthwise-cut halves of toilet paper tubes, taped down with aluminum tape.</div>
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This mitigates the problem well enough, with observed temperatures inside the unit (after having it on and closed for some time) being only 2-3 <b style="background-color: white; font-family: sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19.1875px;">°</b>F over ambient, thought the heatsink portion of the bulb is decidedly quite hot. As I expected that even an LED bulb would still run quite hot in an enclosed space, I used a mountable ceramic lamp socket purchased from a chain hardware store, mounted through the top of the box with a disc of cardboard used as electrical insulation. The hole near the pictured socket is the top vent.</div>
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While I have yet to confirm that the cuttings will be viable (as I only took them 3 days ago), I feel positively about the execution and design of the unit. Having been made with a cardboard box, the total cost of parts is around $25, with the LED bulb responsible for about $20 of that figure. I also feel positively about posting again, having taken a significant break after moving from College Station to another Texas city. As I've been engaged in more creative ventures, like this one, I hope to provide more regular updates. </div>
JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-52374594423266079392013-02-13T00:53:00.002-06:002013-02-13T18:57:38.493-06:00Repurposed Cardboard Black Garlic Oven (Part 1) & Sous Vide Project FailureI've started work on a second model of my black garlic oven. This design has a vertical chamber to increase the amount of garlic that can be held. My target capacity is thirty-six jars arranged on four shelves, with a heating bulb on in the bottom of the unit. Having the bulb on the bottom of the unit should encourage passive convection, since the top of the chamber is where heat will most easily collect and leave the system. As hot air from the bulb travels upward and cool air from the ceiling travels downward, some convection should occur.<br />
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From a materials perspective, I reckoned that the expanded polystyrene insulation of the first design was excessive. This time, my primary materials are cardboard from shipping boxes and packing peanuts. <a href="http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/pdf/fsr-0129.pdf">This document</a> at <a href="http://www.fire.tc.faa.gov/">fire.tc.faa.gov</a> indicates (in table 1) a mean temperature of 612 °F with a lower bound at 575 °F, both temperatures well above (likely more than double) what this system will encounter.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrxTCf5jnHt8RXixXRthpW2W2FEV4vDmajCfWPK8OVG34adFPL38k9beV3zbGGO_4LkrH2h2l_-1vFyelyQivav298S4K84Z8jL3Ldxj_WjmdCeWTxNJuUQvofqhd0e8T8fUauOhVzRec/s1600/DSC00629-OK.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjKrxTCf5jnHt8RXixXRthpW2W2FEV4vDmajCfWPK8OVG34adFPL38k9beV3zbGGO_4LkrH2h2l_-1vFyelyQivav298S4K84Z8jL3Ldxj_WjmdCeWTxNJuUQvofqhd0e8T8fUauOhVzRec/s400/DSC00629-OK.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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As depicted in the picture, I used starch glue to make a four-layer shell. The recipe for my starch glue was 100mL of starch in the above-pictured pyrex cup with water to 500mL in the cup (also, I understand that 1 Tbsp. of salt added to the mix will discourage mold growth). I then microwaved the stirred mixture in thirty second intervals, stirring between, until the mixture thoroughly gelled. The benefits of this glue are low price (since a full recipe uses a trivial amount of corn starch), high bonding strength for paper and a stability in heated environments. I used a grooved trowel to apply the adhesive to the cardboard, and held the glued surfaces together using bar clamps and some surplus cheap flooring strips I had available, as pictured below.<br />
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The starch glue dries quite slowly (a number of hours), so the assembly of the four layer box took almost a week. The finished shell is stable, fairly rigid, and about three quarters of an inch thick, as pictured standing below.<br />
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In part two of this project, I will add spaced extensions to the shell, to be filled with packing peanuts and scrapped expanded foam. With the three inches of combined insulation (of various effectivenesses), I anticipate a total R-value of R-5 ‒ R-9, which seems ample if energy conversation is the goal.<br />
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The "Sous Vide Project" mentioned in the subject of this post was a series of projects I had planned (at an elevated expense relative to my other projects) to construct, from scratch, a water oven to be used for sous vide cooking. I planned to pump water from a high-temperature plastic chafing dish to a deep metal dish containing a heating element. I purchased most of the equipment needed for this venture, and all but the chafing dish and <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B007XHZ25G/ref=oss_product">pump</a> arrived (coincidentally, the two most potentially costly items), the dish because the price quoted on the site was wrong (I should have known that half price was too good to be true) and the pump for reasons yet to be determined (but I have been unable to get a response from the seller).<br />
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Because the chafing dish I intended to use is normally expensive, and since the pump was the only reasonably priced example I could find on the internet, the project series has been scrapped. I offer this as an explanation for the sizable interval prior to this post, fully unintentional as it was. I will likely buy a consumer water oven at in the near future for sous vide use, and am particularly eyeing the <a href="http://sousvidesupreme.com/Shop_Online/View_All/SousVide_Supreme/Product.aspx?ProductID=21&DeptID=17&&">Sous Vide Supreme</a>.JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-49408583536913696792013-01-07T19:28:00.001-06:002013-01-08T17:03:21.243-06:00Temperature ControllerI spoke previously on here about adding a temperature controller to my <a href="http://omniafaciat.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-black-garlic-oven-post.html">Black Garlic Oven</a> design, and appreciated <a href="http://www.blogger.com/profile/10276337744184543601">CubeConvict's</a> recommendation of the <a href="http://www.ebay.com/itm/All-purpose-Temperature-Controller-STC-1000-Whit-sensor-/320628773067">STC-1000</a>. I found this general use controller intuitive in ways, though the software interface is somewhat <i>erratic</i> in its utilization of its buttons.<br />
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To illustrate this, consider the hardware connections on the rear of the unit. The connections are all screw terminals, with pairs for power, sensors, cold and hot, in that order. I found this configuration straightforward and appropriate the the application. The software interface, however, offers challenges. The power button is labeled with a <a href="http://www.logodesignlove.com/logos-using-the-standby-symbol">standby symbol</a>, which alone is confusing. Furthermore, consider the way to change temperature. On the main screen, one holds the "S" key for 3 seconds, selects a menu item using "S" and then adjusts the setting by holding "S" and pressing "Up" or "Down". When the desired setting has been reached, one presses the Standby/Power button to commit the change.<br />
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Thankfully, the unit required very little adjustment. For housing, I purchased a PVC box (As pictured in <a href="http://makeprojects.com/Project/Water+Bath+Thermostat/1019">this MakeProjects post</a>) and added a power outlet and binding posts for the sensors. After splitting the plugs on the power outlet, the unit allows me to simply plug the oven into the "heat" plug.<br />
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The binding posts and banana jacks purchased from RadioShack, with the binding posts being advertised as "insulated" (though it would take a far stretch of the imagination to consider these meaningfully insulated). The binding posts are screw-on, and I drilled holes to attach the power outlet. The STC-1000 has mounting brackets included that secure it to the lid. I used disconnect terminals inside to attach the power cord to the controller and the outlet (the electrical tape wrapped bit connection the end of the power cord's sheathing), and spade terminals to provide power to the outlet.<br />
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Everything fits easily inside the 4"x4" PVC box that I purchased from my local hardware store. To secure the power cord inside the box, I put two zip ties on the cord and heat shrink wrapped them with a glob of glue inside the tube.<br />
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Part of the beauty of this controller is that, in an arrangement such as this one, it can be used to control both heating elements and cooling systems (such as an AC or a chest freezer), allowing it to be used for any application between -50°~90°C. I will likely use the STC-1000 for many other fermentation chambers in the future.<br />
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<b>Update (2013-01-07) - Circuit Diagram</b>:<br />
A barebones illustration of the circuit with a heating incandescent and cooling appliance plugged in.<br />
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<br />JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-1760048165130792692013-01-05T06:40:00.002-06:002013-01-08T01:06:15.934-06:00Garlic Amino SaltTaking a cue from <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Chalt-The-condiment-for-2012-and-beyond/" target="_blank">Chalt</a>, I decided that I should like to make an amino heavy salt. I have previously been led to believe that the flavor advantage of sea salt, particularly highly regarded sea salts such as <i>sel gris</i>, fleur de sel and varied other examples, is the mineral and amino content imparted by the brine from which it is collected. My intention in this case was to create a reduced salt with far-increased amino content, intended to be used in a similar way to soy sauce, but without the addition of liquid. I'm calling this salt "Garlic Amino Salt", as its ingredients are sea salt, alderwood smoked salt, black garlic powder and minced preserved garlic.<br />
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As this is a small-batch experimental recipe, I started by adding 250 mL of Spring Water to a medium saucepan over high heat. Once the water started boiling, I reduced the temperature to medium, and added 50g of an ordinary, mid-price Sea Salt.<br />
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I then began attempting to super-saturate the solution with sea salt. After adding 25g more salt, I discovered that the solution was too thick, and added 100mL more water. The solution at that point seemed too thin. I then added 3g of smoked salt and 5g of sea salt, and started adding water in 15mL increments. After 5 such increments, I decided that the solution was appropriately dilute as to be supersaturated at boiling. I then added the black garlic and minced garlic, boiled for 2 minutes more, and poured the mixture through a plastic filter <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0042X9XAE/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i02" target="_blank">I purchased online</a> into a 2.2qt Pyrex baking dish. It was then placed in an oven at 275F, as shown.</div>
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I checked the solution at 15 minute intervals, observing the drying taking place from the outer rim of the dish inward, as illustrated in the following sequence. Note that significant precipitation happened in the first 15 minutes of the process.</div>
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After 90 minutes of such, I found that the solution had dried into a loose cake. I removed the dish from the oven and stirred it using a silicon spatula. The resulting aggregate was semi-moist, with pockets of completely dry salt interspersed. I decided that the mixture could use more drying and placed it back in the oven for another 30 minutes.</div>
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At this time, I removed the salt from the oven and stirred it up once again. It had become dry throughout, excepting a few small, moist clusters that nonetheless crumbled between my fingers. Tasting the new salt, it was intensely savory, with a significant but far-reduced saltiness from the original sea salt. I think it would work well as a salt replacement at anywhere from 1:1 to 1:2.5, for any recipe that the cook wanted to make more savory and wouldn't mind including black garlic flavor.</div>
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I believe this recipe would be helped by the inclusion of a vacuum hood for the reduction of the salt, coupled with a significant reduction in drying temperature. When using a vacuum hood, however, I would double the black garlic content and remove all minced garlic. The inclusion of some (5g on the light side to 15g on the heavy side) dried roasted garlic would be preferable to minced garlic in this case.<br />
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This experiment had an unexpected but not altogether unwelcome side effect. On a first attempt, I accidentally added the garlic and black garlic early, and decided I should start over. Not wanting to waste perfectly good black garlic, I put the failed recipe in a Pyrex loaf dish in the oven, without filtering, and the garlic mixture reduced down to a thick paste. I intend to put it in a yet undetermined amount of olive or canola oil, and use the result as a cooking paste or condiment.<br />
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Experimental data was transcribed to a text file, available on <a href="https://docs.google.com/open?id=0B2wId6q1LEQUMmRCYWhXTVNkeDA" target="_blank">Google Drive</a>.JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-66623541489647050802012-12-13T21:12:00.000-06:002013-01-08T01:07:23.030-06:00Sweet Potato Syrup<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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There is an <a href="http://www.jbc.org/content/44/1/19.full.pdf" target="_blank">old article from 1920</a> about the existence of diastase in sweet potatoes. Diastase is a general term, referring to enzymes that facilitate the decomposition of various polysaccharide starches into maltose, a disaccharide. As I understand it, sweet potatoes contain a substantial amount of beta amylase, and a small amount of alpha amylase (the content increases with aging). The above linked article refers to an older process determined by the US Department of Agriculture (I have not been able to find the article on their site) for making sweet potato syrup using malt, for its alpha amylase content. This is my second foray into sweet potato syrup production, and it went much better than my last time.<br />
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I started with 10 large sweet potatoes, acquired from my local grocery store. I am not sure of the weight of the purchase, as I was going to record it from my receipt from the grocery store, but I managed to misplace the receipt. I took each potato and cut it into four pieces length-wise, and then cut those wedges into individual quarter-slices, as shown below.<br />
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In the 1920 article, they talked about using shredded sweet potatoes or sweet potato flour. While I think that the shredded sweet potato would have worked well (as well as saving my poor thumb, the tip of which I cut off while I was chopping sweet potatoes), I think that flour would have made filtering an enormous hassle. The quarter-slices worked well, however, yielding two large bowls of slices.<br />
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Endeavoring to follow the paper's steps somewhat, I decided to roughly follow their process, which seemed to work pretty well. I added the sweet potatoes to the pan with water to cover (I added a little extra water, which I'll comment on later in the article), and started heating up the mixture over medium heat.<br />
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After fifteen minutes of heating, I checked the temperature on the electronic thermometer, for which you can see a bit of the sensor and its wire in the above picture. The temperatures were recorded during heating as follows:<br />
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<table border="1" style="text-align: center; width: 600px;">
<caption><b>Temperature Fahrenheit (T) at time elapsed in minutes (t) with stove heat setting (Q)</b></caption>
<tbody>
<tr>
<th>Mins.</th>
<th>°F</th>
<th>Heat</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>15</td>
<td>157</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>30</td>
<td>160</td>
<td>1</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>70</td>
<td>180</td>
<td>3</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>80</td>
<td>189</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>90</td>
<td>197</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>100</td>
<td>208</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>105</td>
<td>210</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td>110</td>
<td>212</td>
<td>5</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
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After boiling, I mashed the sweet potatoes using a potato masher. This was complicated by the fact that there was more water than I had intended, which meant that it was harder to be sure that all of the chunks were processed (many weren't). I used a four step process to extract liquor from the pulp, and it still wasn't as effective as I had hoped. My steps were, in order, to sieve using a chinois and pestle, to filter through a metal mesh coffee filter, to filter through paper coffee filters and then to reduce in the oven overnight, as illustrated.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbq006v3WPtL55vpZYlpLl8WwO4MQMoV5-VBVD2Pq4BRbirTKNQXwjhHYEQy40wW0918OV1CcK9ebvlK0e6ZAhKYjX4nqmo2XmKny5HB-2AkfPRrG76eV8N2AOtGUf1btF3kwB-AGO8gwX/s1600/DSC00565.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbq006v3WPtL55vpZYlpLl8WwO4MQMoV5-VBVD2Pq4BRbirTKNQXwjhHYEQy40wW0918OV1CcK9ebvlK0e6ZAhKYjX4nqmo2XmKny5HB-2AkfPRrG76eV8N2AOtGUf1btF3kwB-AGO8gwX/s320/DSC00565.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSuPBPaX_hItqRpqVF0Un2o3J0CYj5oCxLWcvgaIP4-3vjDlPLi_Bhl4r2Fb8DO58XIgclCIs2JP_v0zCJUnGGM7Hedtb8aINO_4xH9LnvYjo-fFkCyQy0nnpmMNXcG2l0jJQWnNYAxh1F/s1600/DSC00567.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSuPBPaX_hItqRpqVF0Un2o3J0CYj5oCxLWcvgaIP4-3vjDlPLi_Bhl4r2Fb8DO58XIgclCIs2JP_v0zCJUnGGM7Hedtb8aINO_4xH9LnvYjo-fFkCyQy0nnpmMNXcG2l0jJQWnNYAxh1F/s320/DSC00567.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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It's not easy to see in the last picture, but the syrup that has been filtered through paper coffee filters still has a fairly small amount of sweet potato pulp in it. I set the oven at 220°F and let the syrup sit for about 8 hours. When I checked it, it was much sweeter, and had reduced by about half.<br />
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I intend to improve the process in the future, and I have some very specific ideas for how to do so. Instead of integrating the enzymatic action and heating to boiling, I'll use water to cover heated to about 170°F. After adding the sweet potatoes, I'll put the whole concoction in my (now temperature controlled, more about that in a later post) light bulb oven, and let it convert for about 2 hours. I'll then boil it on the stove and, instead of mashing the pulp and sieving it, I'll remove most the water by straining, and then use a hand blender to process it into a paste. I'll then create a large filter by putting a piece of wool felt over the top of a bucket, with the cut off top of another bucket holding it in place. As I understand it, wool is better for filtering syrup, as it doesn't clog as easily and filters more thoroughly.<br />
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Next time I do this, I'll likely also use malt in the mixture. My intention is to make a simple sweet potato beer and, since sweet potato doesn't contain the necessary amino compounds to support yeast fermentation, malt is necessary for the conversion into beer. This sweet potato and malt beer will then be converted into vinegar, to be used as the base for a Worcestershire-like sauce, possibly tomato-based, that I'll be making.<br />
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<br />JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-32592816464574452932012-12-04T00:24:00.000-06:002013-01-08T01:10:08.396-06:00Black Garlic Sauce UpdateSince my buddy was in town for the weekend, and I was sending some of the sauce back with him, I went ahead and further processed the sauce. I added some onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, dried mushrooms and anchovy paste, and then used a hand blender to puree the mixture. After blending, I let it sit for a couple of hours, at which time the mixture had gotten smoother and sludgy. I added 1/2 C of good Fish Sauce, 1/2 C of passable Dark Soy Sauce, and a further 1/2 cup of Michiu. I intend to give the sauce about a month to age, at which point I will see how it has turned out.<br />
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If you noticed that the level should be higher, that's because it should be. I sent my buddy back with about 10 oz. of the sauce in a Topo Chico bottle, which he has been instructed to cover with foil instead of the cap with which I sealed it.JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-18867434626015165572012-12-01T23:17:00.003-06:002014-03-08T17:24:09.655-06:00The Black Garlic Oven PostToday, I harvested my last batch of black garlic and, having pre-harvested one head and having taken four for the sauce base, processed the last seven heads, cutting half up to dry for making black garlic powder. The remaining half will be used at-will for recipes, etc., with some going to a buddy of mine. I've also started a new batch for next month, which I'll cover later in this post. First, I'd like to explain how I made my light bulb powered black garlic oven, using the Huskee Tough Guy EPS (expanded polystyrene) cooler, as somewhat pictured below.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJv9AI66Kxba5OhNWS10aP_b8RHve0V1u2Sr3GQgExTHCt-fG1T2xYRZNysADZIAu1RJ2MV9C7NoBr77XCW1y41GCGCagfmNh1I44voIUdL_vYIVvpsCxiPUfGIRqMDSaC3GQ6XN2_X7Up/s1600/DSC00515.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJv9AI66Kxba5OhNWS10aP_b8RHve0V1u2Sr3GQgExTHCt-fG1T2xYRZNysADZIAu1RJ2MV9C7NoBr77XCW1y41GCGCagfmNh1I44voIUdL_vYIVvpsCxiPUfGIRqMDSaC3GQ6XN2_X7Up/s640/DSC00515.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></a></div>
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Expanded polystyrene is recommended for applications below 160 degrees Fahrenheit, with this one coming in about 10 degrees below that mark. I started by covering the walls with aluminum foil, reflective side inward-facing, securing it with normal Elmer's Glue-All. I then drilled a 1/2" hole in the bottom center of the container, through which to pass the wires for the light bulb. The tiles were positioned in a diamond shape in the bottom, as depicted here:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdj-dvHltsAJxcOsO7OjxWpVaCZNSyjhEUqphHCEvPFBkUvIRfzI0rAtCK9IbznGKCqisfzSjFwerT8xSXG-TBrn8JkKjm2iiBQ7TXRhsFF6eCTiqXj9AQgEuV2D3PSqYOYkIk59oYcYM/s1600/DSC00510.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjdj-dvHltsAJxcOsO7OjxWpVaCZNSyjhEUqphHCEvPFBkUvIRfzI0rAtCK9IbznGKCqisfzSjFwerT8xSXG-TBrn8JkKjm2iiBQ7TXRhsFF6eCTiqXj9AQgEuV2D3PSqYOYkIk59oYcYM/s320/DSC00510.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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The tiles have small felt feet on them in the form of a flattened "X", with top and bottom one inch in from the edge of the tiles. This keeps them from scratching the aluminum foil, while providing a solid base upon which to place ball jars, with enclosed garlic. While I have used ball jar canning lids in the past, I have decided to switch to aluminum foil as the exclusive lid, as it doesn't need to be a perfect seal and I'm concerned about the BPA content of the canning lids. I have placed the reflective side up, as below:<br />
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Note the stone filled jars from the last post. They provide IR absorption and thermal mass for the system. As a strongly IR absorbing material, stone also emits IR, bolstered and buffered by the high specific heat of the water. In my other experiences with fermentation, I have understood that light exposure can be detrimental to the fermentation process. Googling "<a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=light+effect+on+fermentation" target="_blank">Light effect on fermentation</a>" seems to provide a number of articles, blog entries, &c. that suggest that both visible light and UV radiation can have a negative effect on fermentation. I genuinely don't know if they apply at 140°F-150°F--a perceived consensus indicates this range for black garlic (per <a href="http://www.instructables.com/id/Fermented-Garlic-Black-Garlic/step4/Starting-the-Garlic/" target="_blank">this instructable</a> and <a href="http://www.ehow.com/how_5902625_make-black-garlic.html" target="_blank">this make article</a>)--but this mitigates the issue, while the dry heat resists mold and non-beneficial bacterial growth.<br />
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Each head is placed in an individual 8 oz. ball mason jar. Some of those that I have are normal and some are quilted, but I don't think it really matters which one is used, save the utility of having the measurements on the side of the normal ball jar. I leave the heads sealed in the jars for 30 days, at which time I remove the lids and let the garlic dry. This results in cloves that are dark, textures and have shrunk away from the skins of the garlic. Some in the last batch were drier than others, with some reducing to a powder when pinched between the fingers, while others were leathery and pliable. The harder examples were cut up and reserved for additional drying, for making black garlic powder.<br />
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To measure temperature, I punched a hole in the side of the cooler using a small meat thermometer, calibrated in boiling water (e.g. <a href="http://amzn.com/B00004XSC4" target="_blank">This Taylor product</a>) around the middle of the height of the jars. Using this to monitor temperature, I used a number of different light bulb wattages.<br />
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I found that I had to use 40W bulbs during higher Central Texas summer garage temperatures, and a 30W bulb during lower temperatures. The incandescent bulb needed will vary by ambient temperature, but I would wager that 40W is a reasonable base starting point for most room temperatures. I conducted primary research with a nominal quantity of water in the system (and no garlic) monitored by a webcam. I will provide the records from this experimentation in an update to this post.<br />
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For reference, I used a ceramic light socket I got from a cheap lamp I bought from Lowe's hardware store. There is one very near my home, and I found that they have <i>ad hoc</i> porcelain light sockets for between $3 and $4. I used a cord from another, broken appliance, and soldered some fork/U-shaped terminal connectors to the end of its wires. I bought the cooler at Academy, and I can't easily find the price, though I believe it was no higher than $30. Altogether, I remember calculating (some time ago) that the apparatus, plus electricity, with initial cost of garlic was less than the cost of twelve heads of black garlic online. For the record, this is an excellent use of incandescent light bulbs, as they put off far more heat and IR radiation than light. In the month it takes to do this, the oven costs on the order of $5-$8 per batch, including electricity and garlic, but not including the cost of manufacture.JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-51275746072724667982012-11-30T02:26:00.001-06:002013-01-08T01:09:18.812-06:00Black Garlic Sauce BaseEarly this morning, I chopped up some black garlic into a mix of 1 cup of Kikkoman light soy sauce and and 1/2 cup of Michiu, as seen below.<br />
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I used four heads' worth of black garlic cloves in the sauce. My intention is to store the sauce in the refrigerator for a week, and then blend up the sauce base, while adding some onion, garlic, anchovies, dark soy sauce, fish sauce and (possibly) ginger. I plan to then store the sauce in a sealed container in the refrigerator for a further few weeks, at which time I will test the sauce to see how it tastes. </div>
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The sauce is meant as a cooking ingredient or base for another sauce. I fully expect that it will impart significant savoriness, or <i>umami</i>, to the dishes in which it is added. </div>
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I also put some rocks in jars tonight. In my current black garlic oven, I have four pint jars full of water between the light bulb and the garlic, to provide the system with some thermal mass. In thinking that I'd rather the heat be a little more even, I reckoned that stone absorbs IR radiation, so the addition of rocks with water should deliver more even heat throughout the oven while protecting the garlic from direct light. The jars are pictured below.</div>
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I'll next post a detailed guide to the structure and setup of the black garlic oven, when I load it with garlic this Saturday, following the harvest of the black garlic currently finishing its drying process.</div>
JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3858618563252693829.post-87908271140606031182012-11-29T04:20:00.000-06:002013-01-08T01:09:32.822-06:00Intro and Black Garlic December Harvest<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
I'm starting this blog as a record of my hobbies. As a DIY enthusiast, I have a number of esoteric interests. I'm going to use this as a way to publicly record my pursuits, and as a basic host for various guides and project details.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkOKXSyUvPM9iHH2hKAYIaWrT3QzbuQ_oWVUmV8Uoqnx_PZ9Ti4WUCFouPp3i8I9yUcIDUBOeWBCn_Rnt-Z-8_a9m91vFs68TPnx6zH7-RpvMR9Zzxj9jAcDwEDwc3LBibU7-Gc_rkJ44/s1600/Black+Garlic-20121128-One+Day+Prior-1.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="379" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEkOKXSyUvPM9iHH2hKAYIaWrT3QzbuQ_oWVUmV8Uoqnx_PZ9Ti4WUCFouPp3i8I9yUcIDUBOeWBCn_Rnt-Z-8_a9m91vFs68TPnx6zH7-RpvMR9Zzxj9jAcDwEDwc3LBibU7-Gc_rkJ44/s640/Black+Garlic-20121128-One+Day+Prior-1.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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That said, I have a December 1st harvest date for the most recent batch of black garlic from my cooler and light bulb based black garlic oven. The above picture is a pre-harvest sample that I took (after mistakenly believing this Wednesday to be my harvest date), including some unpeeled cloves from near the middle of a head, and the peeled cloves from the outside of the head. They have a good texture, and the aroma is great.<br />
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While I'll be posting the details for my <b>extremely</b> cheap DIY black garlic oven at a later date, my basic process is pretty simple. I keep the garlic in the oven for 30 days between 140°F and 150°F , adjusting the light bulb used as the outside temperature changes. At 30 days, I remove the lid for the jars the garlic is aged in, to allow for the final drying of the heads, which takes 10 days. My roommate has had the idea of using a higher wattage bulb (probably 60W) in combination with a lower wattage bulb (maybe 30W or 40W, depending on ambient temperature) for heating and maintaining, respectively. The two would be hooked up to a relay, controlled by a circuit with at least one thermocouple as its input.<br />
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I plan to chop and dry about four of the heads, after which I'll make black garlic powder. Another four will be soaked in some light soy sauce and blended up with some dark soy and fish sauce, to be used for cooking. The last four will be used as-is. I'll be making 24 heads in the next batch, instead of the 12 that I made in this batch, some of which I'll use in a tomato-based fermented sauce. I might further double up the capacity, since I think the cooler could be more densely packed and work well.JThttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17941699094435621267noreply@blogger.com2