Blow Dryer As Heat Source?

[WildaYeast]

Hi,

I know there have been heaps of discussions about various heat sources for fermenting fridges, such as belts, blankets, light bulbs, etc. Have had my STC-1000 hooked up for a long time, but never bothered with anything on the heat side of the circuit. For brewing, doesn't tend to drop much below 18 here anyhow -- the insulation of the box is enough to do the trick.

However, for my sourdough bread I have often wanted to crank the temp up; it likes it around 23, which is hard to get in the winter, even in SEQ. So, I've got a lamp in there now, but was thinking that a blow dryer / heat gun might work well. They don't like to be on for long as they get quite hot, but if it had a low temp setting and a low fan speed, the blowing air might be very good -- solves the fan problem. I'm sure they can be picked up pretty cheap and I wouldn't think they'd need to run much...

Anyone ever try this or think about trying it? Did a search, but neither "blow dryer" nor "heat gun" seemed to show up.

Bread today and brewing tomorrow; God bless 'er majesty.

Cheers, Brian

 

[Nick JD]

If you want to blow all that Lacto from the sourdough culture all over your fermenter, then I'd go right ahead!

 

[homebrewkid]

small fan heater would be better and ive seen one used in the brew rigs thread no idea who it was though [was used in a long short fridge with glass doors] at least they are designed to stay on and are pretty cheap from GO-LO and places like that

cheers: HBK

 

[dicko]

Hi,

I know there have been heaps of discussions about various heat sources for fermenting fridges, such as belts, blankets, light bulbs, etc. Have had my STC-1000 hooked up for a long time, but never bothered with anything on the heat side of the circuit. For brewing, doesn't tend to drop much below 18 here anyhow -- the insulation of the box is enough to do the trick.

However, for my sourdough bread I have often wanted to crank the temp up; it likes it around 23, which is hard to get in the winter, even in SEQ. So, I've got a lamp in there now, but was thinking that a blow dryer / heat gun might work well. They don't like to be on for long as they get quite hot, but if it had a low temp setting and a low fan speed, the blowing air might be very good -- solves the fan problem. I'm sure they can be picked up pretty cheap and I wouldn't think they'd need to run much...

Anyone ever try this or think about trying it? Did a search, but neither "blow dryer" nor "heat gun" seemed to show up.

Bread today and brewing tomorrow; God bless 'er majesty.

Cheers, Brian

I tried a blow heater in a temp controlled cupboard many years ago and I found the temperature to vary way too much.
In other words it would heat up and switch off at the set temp but the temp in the the cupboard would still keep rising.
I pissed it off and put a low wattage bulb in its place and it worked perfectly.
Nick makes a good point about the fan as well.
I would stick to the lamp and adjust the temp for the bread

Cheers

 

[wynnum1]

reptiles enclosures need heat have a look at pet supplies on ebay .

 

[tonyt]

I tried the blow heater as well. As mentioned above, it switched off at set temp but temp kept on rising in enclosure. I use a heat reptile pad and a little pc fan to circulate, works well.
Cheers

 

[wombil]

Lo Wildya'
While I am not a baker or chef I have cooked many a good loaf of bread,Not sure if sourdough is much different.I cooked it while droving with packhorses and camp ovens.Anyone who reckons drovers lived on damper and treacle don't know what they are talking about.Damper is for tourists,unless you're really stuck.
Back to the point in question,a fan of any sort on the dough would flatten it and make it like damper.Just chuck it in a dish,cover it with a cloth and let it stand in the sun for a hour or two till it rises and all will be ok.Midday here is 21 or so deg. and that is quite enough heat to do the job.
Use the kiss system always.
Hope this helps,not trying to be a smart arse,bit pissed tho.
wombil.

 

[WildaYeast]

Lo Wildya'
While I am not a baker or chef I have cooked many a good loaf of bread,Not sure if sourdough is much different.I cooked it while droving with packhorses and camp ovens.Anyone who reckons drovers lived on damper and treacle don't know what they are talking about.Damper is for tourists,unless you're really stuck.
Back to the point in question,a fan of any sort on the dough would flatten it and make it like damper.Just chuck it in a dish,cover it with a cloth and let it stand in the sun for a hour or two till it rises and all will be ok.Midday here is 21 or so deg. and that is quite enough heat to do the job.
Use the kiss system always.
Hope this helps,not trying to be a smart arse,bit pissed tho.
wombil.

Thanks Mate for the honesty -- "not trying to be a smart arse,bit pissed...' LOL

I cover the bowl with a shower cap when it's rising, so no breeze. Don't usually get around to starting my dough until evening, so not much sun shining either. Lamp has been working OK, but need to a bit of tweaking to get temps adjusted -- nothing new. The sourdough takes about 3-4 hours to rise in the summer; in winter I can easily be double that. I had it in the bowl by 6 tonight and it still looks pretty flat, but if I get it shaped and in the fridge to retard by midnight I'll be pleased. Mind you, the cold weather and really slow rise usually yields a really nice result, one of the nice things about wild yeast.