Homemade ham maker

I’ve been using the ham maker Tescoma for about a year and figured out that some technical characteristics are far behind my cooking expectations. So, I would definitely amplify the capacities of the device according to my needs. First, what I was not satisfied with:
1. Small volume of the Tescoma device — 1 kg.
2. No possibility to adjust the pressure. The spring is strong which provides the pressure from 5 to 10 kg. The problem is that cooking tender meal, like fish, for example, all the inside juice is squeezed out and the meal is left «over-dried».
3. There isn’t a hole for an inside thermometer.
4. It is complicated to extract a ready meal out of the device because the cylinder is symmetric and the paste is stuck to it. If there were a little cone that would be really helpful.
So, finally I decided to create an appropriate device by myself, counting it was not a difficult task.

For this purpose any cooking molds of different depth and volume fit well. It costs not big money. And it is made of food stainless steel which provides instant heat exchange. Also there’s no need to worry if it falls on the floor.
The device is well-seen on the photos.
Fotos
The task was to create a press with an adjustable pressure up to different volume of products. On this purpose I used an aluminum profile of different sizes to get a «telescope». Down there is a base with holes so that the liquid could exit through them and at the same time the holes serve for a thermometer needle. Up there is a similar base for springs and elastics. The pressure is adjusted by lifting up the «telescope». The cost of the entire device is low and it will take not longer than 40 minutes to make it.

The volume capacity of my big mold (there are different ones) is up to 2 kg of mincemeat. I also used them for cooking the «Ideal ham» without a pressure. It was a convenient way.