Water Meters for a dough mix, any experience?

[babyyodadrinks]

Hi,

(wasn't sure exactly which area to post this)

i've kept filtered and non-filtered water cold cold cold to date with excellent success. 
however space and efficiency are calling..

so i'm looking in to a water meter for my pizza shop.


does anyone have knowledge or experience in using a specific brand of water meter? do you like one vs another?

i know there are many models and capabilities and price ranges. 

i'm a smaller pizza shop doing 100 to 150 pies per day. 

for water needs - i'll be doing 2 to 3 batches per day on a 60qt mixer using approx 6500g per batch.
cold water is key. 

i dont want to break the bank.

any suggestions are appreciated.

cheers.
Ezra

[TXCraig1]

Do you mean by "water meter" or "water chiller?"

[babyyodadrinks]

Do you mean by "water meter" or "water chiller?"

these puppies do both, they measure temp and volume:

https://www.chefsdeal.com/p/digital-water-meters/doyon-daf001?gad_source=1&gclid=CjwKCAiAtsa9BhAKEiwAUZAszXiuc2tYaMc5otQFxbW2wGe0Xy4DtGeFZ6nSlertQ1uyFx6wd9tnKBoCOyQQAvD_BwE

[apizza]

Well there's an item I don't need. I can see it's usefulness in your situation.

[waltertore]

That sounds like overkill to me.  The places I know that use them are large scale bakeries with huge mixers. Get a good scale, some buckets (mark them to the level) and after a few batches you will get real close to the right amount and keep a container of water and empty container next to the scale to add or subtract water. I did 6 batches at a time and it took about 2 minutes to fill the water containers and a few second more to add or subtract from them.  Did that as the mixer was working on the first batch. 

[TXCraig1]

these puppies do both, they measure temp and volume:

Not what I asked.

How is a $3,300 brick that measures water volume an temp going to help you in any way?

Get a measuring cup and a Thermopen. I just saved you $3,200.

[babyyodadrinks]

Not what I asked.

How is a $3,300 brick that measures water volume an temp going to help you in any way?

Get a measuring cup and a Thermopen. I just saved you $3,200.

it comes down to space, i just dont have the fridge space to keep cambros of water cold.
i dont have time to chill water, with ice or not, and get my water to the temp i need for a mix (i typically do a dough mix with 45 degree water).

as i understand it, these water meters dont just measure temp and volume - you can set them to a temp and weigh out to a volume that you'd like...
seems helpful to me if that is the case.

im aware that an item like this seems like overkill or an unnecessary expense, and it is.
but if the product can measure my water and keep it cold, then the cost of the equipment could be justified if it proves being
an efficient way to have cold water as i need it and at the same time measure it.

yes i could just weigh out cold water and temp it, as ive done previous.

[TXCraig1]

That thing doesn't do anything to affect the temperature of the water nor does it keep your water cold. It simply measures the temp.

[PizzaIsBread]

found a quick YT vid on this product and what it does

[Jon in Albany]

First time I saw one was on Instagram a little while ago. My eyes aren't good enough to catch the brand. 

https://www.instagram.com/reel/DFdmIYtxVgc/?igsh=MXN1aDZ3NXU5M3k2eQ==

[Muddy]

Have you considered experimenting with something like this ?  It might be an inexpensive way to test your workflow. I have no idea of the "food safeness" or accuracy. 

I could see pairing this with a low cost water chiller for a DIY hack kind of system.

Muddy

[apizza]

Have you considered experimenting with something like this ?  It might be an inexpensive way to test your workflow. I have no idea of the "food safeness" or accuracy.

I could see pairing this with a low cost water chiller for a DIY hack kind of system.

Muddy

I see plus or minus 5% in the specs.

[TXCraig1]

I'm guessing he wants something that can dispense a precise quantity as opposed to measure what was dispensed. 

[Muddy]

The +-5% is probably absolute accuracy. What may be more important is that it reads consistently every time. It would be pretty easy to dial in the right amount with a bucket and a scale, then simply repeat filling until the desired meter reading is displayed.

It seems to me that combining this meter, with a chiller and fill valve would solve the OP's problem of not wanting to have buckets of water in his fridge. Manually opening and closing a valve seems like a fair trade-off to the expensive, fully automatic option.

Personally, I'd add an Arduino and an electric valve to fully automate it, but that's another hobby entirely.

Muddy

[gcpizza]

You're talking about LESS THAN one and three quarters gallons per batch. I think the answer is obvious. 🙄

[babyyodadrinks]

thank you for all of these great responses! much appreciated.

i kind of think im not the only one in the industry who would like a solution like this..

a stand alone water chiller seems like the best route, albeit a not too expensive one.
i could also get chilled water from a water or ice machine/water combo (something like a Vero which offers ambient and cold, or even a countertop Scottsman which does ice and water dispensing)

a piece of equipment for x amount of dollars to just weigh out water seems like a waste of money.

having a 2-in-1 piece of equipment automating water chill and with the ability to weigh out water does seem like an efficient tool.

commercial/industrial bakeries certainly have this sort of thing for large-scale operations. 

i'm sure there is something out there for small to med-size business.

i'll keep hunting and report back.

cheers and happy pizza making!

[TXCraig1]

I don't think you'll find a 2-in-1 device. The industrial solution is a thermostatic meter that takes in pipe water (or warm water) and chilled water and blends them to output the desired quantity at a set temperature.

I'd be even more shocked if you find something affordable for small or mid-sized operations. It's a very expensive solution for pretty much nonexistent problem.

[Muddy]

babyyodadrinks: Something like this? (sorry about the low video quality)  If so, I came across a couple of inexpensive solutions that might work for you.

Muddy

[dragonspawn]

The water meters linked don't have a compressor. So they need cold water source. If you had cold water source - then no need to bother with a meter for 20lt per day.
Honestly I would go with something like cold plunge chiller and a 40 liter igloo with 3 holes - two for the hoses and 1 for a spigot to be mounted. And just top it in the evening.
This is the first i got on amazon. Not endorsing or even used the product. there seems to be aquarium chillers also.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CNB99244/?tag=pmak-20

Even cheaper solution is Arduino or something, old fridge compressor, some pipes.

But no matter how I slice and dice it - you need a compressor, heatsinks and insulated buffer water tank. And I don't see how it will be less space saving that a small format fridge (with a fan inside) in which you keep pre-measured containers of water. And it will only take a minute or two to fill them after closing shop.

[Muddy]

I agree that something with a compressor would be needed. The water cooler would be the most expensive part of the project. How much one would have to spend would depend on the supply water temp and/or dough batch frequency.

For back to back batches (i.e. no recovery time) a tankless cooler could be used. The size/cost would be dependent on the temperature drop needed. Flow rate would normally also be a factor, but at the OP's requirement of <2 gal per batch, even a slow flow rate capacity wouldn't be a problem. Something like this might even work.

A chiller with a tank cold be used if there is sufficient recovery time between batches. This would allow for lower temp water if a tankless chiller wasn't sufficient. The tank and recovery time usually results in a physically smaller and less expensive chiller.

The water metering would be the least expensive part of the system. IMHO, spending $3300 on a meter is unnecessary. Amazon sells something that does the same thing for $65.  I don't know of the quality of this offering, but it seems like it would be worth taking a chance on. This would be easy to improve upon by buying the controller only option and adding higher quality water valve (~$50) and flow sensor (~$60).

I built my home grown proof-of-concept water meter for <$40 in parts. I spent much less on this folly since I had most of the parts on hand. I was curious about what kind of accuracy could be achieved with inexpensive parts. I was able to achieve repeatability of about +-2g. I expect that I could cut this error in half with a bit of clever coding. Overall, it was a fun little project. The hardest part was convincing my wife the the water line strung across the kitchen floor was only temporary.

I'm pretty sure that one could build an entire system (with compressor based chiller) for <$200 if they repurposed used items. I think a professional system for less than $1000 wouldn't be too much of a stretch. Even less if one wanted to direct source the parts from China?

I can see the desire to have a cold water metered system if one was making multiple batches a day every day. It certainly would be convenient. I won't be using my DIY system. Maybe someday if I get more serious about the hobby I'll resurrect the project as a permanent installation. One may argue that it was stupid and unnecessary, but I had fun doing it and that is what is important.

Muddy