Keep fluid at a constant temp / temp-regulating range or hotplate???

[evangelion]

hello,

i make goats cheese with my mom. for most recipes, you must keep the cheese at a constant, specific temperature (like 92-94 degrees for example) for a half an hour or more. this is really difficult on a range... we do have a thermometer with an alarm, and this helps a little, but we still must sit right next to the range and keep adjusting the temp or taking it off every few minutes, and we always end up over/under shooting the temp.

i was wondering if anyone had ever heard of a self regulating range or hot plate. i would imagine it would be sortof easy to have an external thermometer that would tell the range/hot-plate the current temp, and the hotplate could automatically adjust to keep it within the limits... just like a cruise control on a car.

has anyone ever heard of a product like this?

any other creative ideas for keeping something at a constant, specific temp?

thanks,

john

[ducdodger]

depending on how much cheese you make and how often you make it i would play around with the weight of the pot you use. The thinner the pot the easier you stove will have heating it so the harder time you will have controling it. If you use a heavy pot it will be harder for the stove to heat it so the more control you will have. If you make alot of cheese and you can part with 300-500 bucks by a immersion circulator off ebay and heat the milk in a vessel in a water bath. You should be able to control the temp of the milk with in two degrees. I think induction heat unit will burn your milk. Standing over the pot and pulling it on and off will still be the cheapest.

[dano1]

bain marie-if not using one-is the easiest way to go. Just put your pot-elevated from the bottom-inside of another water filled pot and monitor.

Another idea-taken from the beer homebrewers of the world -would be to use a cooler. A 5gal igloo water cooler can be found at home improvement stores for ~$20. Fill with warm water to get the temp to the right spot, dump out and add your milk(heated to the correct temp) and rennet, stir and cover. Temp loss IIRC is about 1-2%/hour nominal. Drill a hole through the lid and stuff a probe thermometer into it to monitor if ya feel the need. For more info on this method google homebrewing and cooler mash tuns.

[castironchef]

Or, you could use a yogurt maker, which is basically a temperature controlled liquid incubator.