I was fresh out of college, on a shoestring budget, and living in an 800 square foot house. A little research told me that dry aging required specialized equipment, and a little more told me I couldn’t afford it. Even if I sold a kidney, I still wouldn’t have had the space for a second fridge.
I started thinking about retrofitting a busted fridge to imitate a commercial dry aging locker. This might have worked, but it was complicated, and with parts of unknown origin, it would have posed at least some risk to my abode.
Then it hit me. A commercial dry aging locker is really just two parts: the machinery, and the insulated box. I had the box side covered, as I had a stack of ice chests that had started to see less and less regular use. I thought that if I could create the environmental conditions inside one of my coolers with a standalone machine, I could do what I wanted to do within my budget and simultaneously solve my space problem.
That set me down a path of late nights and weekends in a comically ill-equipped workshop, prototypes beyond number, and many dubious looks of “that will never work” from my dog Josey. After years of failure and not-quite-there-yet, the CELR-12, and Tablesmith, were born in June of 2024.
Since then, I’ve kept building new tools to serve home cooks, following the CELR-12’s lead. My hope is that they bring you joy, provide a means of connection with those you love, and enrich your life with new experiences. Thank you so much for the opportunity to do this work!