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Feedback on sous vide container / cooler DIY
I am looking to build myself a vessel for cooking sous vide (already have the stick, but the pots I own are rather too small and without insulation / compatible lids), I also thought It could double as a beer cooler for picnics and such. Because I dont have much experience with DIY projects; I am no handy man by no means; I hoped I could get some valuable feedback/hints from you guys/gals. Although there are many beer coolers on the market I found them to be from polypropylene or similar plastics, which are not suitable for prolonged medium temp water bathing (>50°C, info from datasheets of catering polypropylene boxes), or they are quite expensive. I didnt know what to look for regarding sous vide - mostly people do it in pots and wrap them in towels or use pingpong balls for top insulation, but as I said, I wanted to do better. In the end, I decided to go for a stainless steel catering box (353x325x200 mm, about 18 l volume) and build the insulation from extruded polystyrene (XPS, 50 mm) around it, with some reinforcement on the bottom from an OSB board (12 mm). Planned composition: Bottom (going top down, all layers glued together): 12 mm OSB board supporting the stainless steel container, meant to spread the load into the XPS 50 mm XPS 12 mm OSB board - so that I have something hard for lifting/putting down Sides: 50 mm XPS, glued to the bottom XPS layer Lid (going top down, glued together): Since I didnt buy a stainless steel lid (they didnt have it, I also am not feeling like drilling the hole for the stick into a stainless steel sheet - I have nethier the tools nor a good experience with drilling into stainless steel), I thought to do a lid from XPS, as it is vapor resistant. However, some sources claimed XPS can start bending at 75°C, and that even though it is not vapor absorbing, it can become damaged over time by heated water vapors. Instead, I decided to take an OSB board and cover it with aluminium tape, or maybe use the aluminium tape on the XPS, if I can get it to stick. 50 mm XPS - to sit on top of the walls 12 mm OSB board - lined by Al tape on the bottom + rubber ring for vapor insulation (got the kind folk use for poorly insulating windows) Glue: Construction glue, 250 kg/m2, manufacturer says -20°C - 75°C. The insulation should be solid I hope, without any thermal bridges, if I can measure correctly the height of the walls, it should be so that the lid will be resting both on the walls as well as the stainless steel container through the rubber ring, making a seal at both points. Structurally, I think the bottom will be fine, sides wont be able to take much shear, but unless someone starts kicking into it, they shouldnt have to. Because of the glue and all, I am going to limit myself to +70°C when cooking in this container, which should be enough for 90% of stuff you do sous vide with anyway. What do you think? Any better ideas? Thank you in advance! submitted by /u/Vaqek [link] [comments]
I am looking to build myself a vessel for cooking sous vide (already have the stick, but the pots I own are rather too small and without insulation / compatible lids), I also thought It could double as a beer cooler for picnics and such. Because I dont have much experience with DIY projects; I am no handy man by no means; I hoped I could get some valuable feedback/hints from you guys/gals.
Although there are many beer coolers on the market I found them to be from polypropylene or similar plastics, which are not suitable for prolonged medium temp water bathing (>50°C, info from datasheets of catering polypropylene boxes), or they are quite expensive. I didnt know what to look for regarding sous vide - mostly people do it in pots and wrap them in towels or use pingpong balls for top insulation, but as I said, I wanted to do better.
In the end, I decided to go for a stainless steel catering box (353x325x200 mm, about 18 l volume) and build the insulation from extruded polystyrene (XPS, 50 mm) around it, with some reinforcement on the bottom from an OSB board (12 mm).
Planned composition:
Bottom (going top down, all layers glued together):
12 mm OSB board supporting the stainless steel container, meant to spread the load into the XPS
50 mm XPS
12 mm OSB board - so that I have something hard for lifting/putting down
Sides:
50 mm XPS, glued to the bottom XPS layer
Lid (going top down, glued together):
Since I didnt buy a stainless steel lid (they didnt have it, I also am not feeling like drilling the hole for the stick into a stainless steel sheet - I have nethier the tools nor a good experience with drilling into stainless steel), I thought to do a lid from XPS, as it is vapor resistant. However, some sources claimed XPS can start bending at 75°C, and that even though it is not vapor absorbing, it can become damaged over time by heated water vapors. Instead, I decided to take an OSB board and cover it with aluminium tape, or maybe use the aluminium tape on the XPS, if I can get it to stick.
50 mm XPS - to sit on top of the walls
12 mm OSB board - lined by Al tape on the bottom + rubber ring for vapor insulation (got the kind folk use for poorly insulating windows)
Glue:
Construction glue, 250 kg/m2, manufacturer says -20°C - 75°C.
The insulation should be solid I hope, without any thermal bridges, if I can measure correctly the height of the walls, it should be so that the lid will be resting both on the walls as well as the stainless steel container through the rubber ring, making a seal at both points. Structurally, I think the bottom will be fine, sides wont be able to take much shear, but unless someone starts kicking into it, they shouldnt have to. Because of the glue and all, I am going to limit myself to +70°C when cooking in this container, which should be enough for 90% of stuff you do sous vide with anyway.
What do you think? Any better ideas? Thank you in advance!
[link] [comments]
