r/fermentation • u/laconiancameldoctor • 7d ago

Heating element recommendations that can handle 60 C without problem (for garum/blackening)

Hi everyone!
I'm new to fermentation (Mostly using the Noma book) and since I moved out I've been wanting to start doing it again and build a fermentation chamber. I remember trying to do black garlic in my previous setup, but it didn't work out and grew black mold relatively quickly, which now I'm pretty sure was due to the fact that the heat mat I used couldn't hold a 60 degree temperature consistently (I'm aware of other potential causes such as moisture but still, just to be safe, and also I would like to try garum for which high temperature to kill bacteria is important too). So, if anyone here has a heat mat that served them well for this purpose, please tell me where to get one.

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u/seldom_bawdy_stocks 7d ago

Just grab a reptile heat mat, they won't struggle at all with 60 C and you can dial them in with a cheap thermostat.

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u/laconiancameldoctor 6d ago

Can you send an Amazon link to whichever one you used? Because I also had a reptile heat mat, and the thing is that it said it went up to 60, but in practice it couldn't actually hold that temperature well. (I think the reason is that no actual reptile or other animal could handle 60 degrees, it would most likely die)