Adding oxygen to incubator

[ArthurDent004]

I was looking at incubator builds and came across the one for Betsy's Tempeh that uses a cooler filled with water and an air stone connected to an aquarium air pump to circulate the water and add oxygen to the closed cooler.

I was wondering if anyone had experimented with using an air pump to add oxygen to a "dry" incubator to see how that would effect the tempeh produced.

Since I incubate in an Instant Pot Ultra 6 quart I'm wondering how adding an air stone to the bottom of the Instant Pot would effect the tempeh.

[curtijam]

Not tried but I suspect air movement would help if you're getting a lot of condensation/moisture buildup.

My understanding from reading the info on the Betsy's Tempeh website is that they use the air stone to both circulate the water and air, and this helps to regulate the temperature of the Tempeh which would otherwise build up and concentrate in the centre of the block, especially as they are making such large blocks (stainless steel catering trays)

[ArthurDent004]

I have been surprised at the temps I've recorded in my tempeh during the incubation process. I track it with a thermometer designed for aquarium use so I put the external probe in the middle of new batch of beans before putting in my Instant Pot to incubate. When the temps reached 95 degrees F I'd remove it from the incubator and set in on a wire rack that is in a quarter sheet pan. I had one batch that never exceeded 99 degrees but most batches would go over 110 degrees, with one batch topping out at 122 degrees for five hours. I wound up discarding that batch since the ammonia smell was overpowering.

Lately I've just been turning off the Instant Pot and leaving the tempeh inside during the whole incubation process and the temps haven't went over 104 degrees. I use a glass lid like you would use if you were making soup or stew in a large pot and it made me wonder if the reduction in oxygen was why the temps are staying low.