My Smokers

snagman · Post by **snagman** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 05:44

My simple smokers - The small one is a Cookshack electric which is used for hot smoking butts,chicken etc. Next to it is a home made plywood smoker, mostly used for cold smoking. Smoke is produced by a pirated copy of a pellet burning Amazen smoker. (with apologies to the producer) Inside now is a new recipe being tested and as it is already 20 outside, using a bottle of ice to keep temp below 18 Both sit on the deck facing the street, lucky it produces very thin smoke, almost invisible.... Don't want unhappy neighbours !

Chuckwagon · Post by **Chuckwagon** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 06:29

That setup is just plain gorgeous! Wow Snag, I'm jealous. I had to insulate my outfit for operation below zero (F) for a few months of the year. You really did a first class job on the plywood smoker.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

DiggingDogFarm · Post by **DiggingDogFarm** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 11:09

Nice smokers!

Neat copy of the A-Maze-N pellet smoke generator....I've been working on something similar that's infinitely expandable.

~Martin

Bubba · Post by **Bubba** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 13:18

Snagman, I observed your good looking smoker with interest, also the reverse engineered pellet burning smoker.
Also love the idea with the iced water bottle, any info from past useage on how much it helps to keep temperature down?
I guess if one wanted to add more ice bottles to reduce temerature more when needed would work.

ssorllih · Post by **ssorllih** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 19:58

I question the use of wood pellets. They are usually made from hard wood sawdust but that covers a broad spectrum of wood species. If there is a shortage of natural wood growing in someones ome area then pellets make a logical choice. However here in the eastern US I remove enough oak, maple, apple and cherry wood from the trees in my half acre yard to supply my needs.

DiggingDogFarm · Post by **DiggingDogFarm** » Mon Oct 10, 2011 22:13

ssorllih wrote:I question the use of wood pellets. They are usually made from hard wood sawdust but that covers a broad spectrum of wood species. If there is a shortage of natural wood growing in someones ome area then pellets make a logical choice. However here in the eastern US I remove enough oak, maple, apple and cherry wood from the trees in my half acre yard to supply my needs.

I use pellets specifically intended for smoking/cooking...not hardwood fuel pellets.

I have all the hardwood I need in my little woods, but for cold smoking, I use pellets for the long consistent cool burn....they work incredibly well. In fact...I sell some BBQin' wood so I can buy some pellets.

~Martin

JerBear · Post by **JerBear** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 03:23

I use pellets specifically intended for smoking/cooking...not hardwood fuel pellets.

Forgive my ignorance but what's the difference?

DiggingDogFarm · Post by **DiggingDogFarm** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 03:38

JerBear wrote:
I use pellets specifically intended for smoking/cooking...not hardwood fuel pellets.
Forgive my ignorance but what's the difference?

Fuel pellets are mixed hardwoods...whatever is available.

Premium smoking/cooking pellets are 100% the desired species...Hickory, Apple, Maple. etc.

~Martin

JerBear · Post by **JerBear** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 03:39

ahh.... got it, thanks!

snagman · Post by **snagman** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 06:34

Bubba wrote:Snagman, I observed your good looking smoker with interest, also the reverse engineered pellet burning smoker.
Also love the idea with the iced water bottle, any info from past useage on how much it helps to keep temperature down?
I guess if one wanted to add more ice bottles to reduce temerature more when needed would work.

Bubba,
That one bottle in the photo drops the temp by 15 degrees C, and until it melts its pretty stable at that. The wood is a good insulator, I think in metal smokers unless well insulated, the result would be less. On hot days, I double/triple the bottles. The pellets burn hotter than dust, so that's another consideration too. I like your description - "reverse engineered" sort of classier than "stolen idea" !
Regards,
Gus

snagman · Post by **snagman** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 06:45

DiggingDogFarm wrote:Nice smokers!

Neat copy of the A-Maze-N pellet smoke generator....I've been working on something similar that's infinitely expandable.

~Martin

Martin, interesting.......... expandable ? Do you mean a larger container for longer burns ? The unit you see burns for 8 hours half filled. My one problem with its it puts out more smoke than I want, so restricting the airflow to it is always a guess. It is though a brilliant cold smoker. Please let me know how your project goes.
Regards,
Gus

snagman · Post by **snagman** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 08:50

Chuckwagon wrote:That setup is just plain gorgeous! Wow Snag, I'm jealous. I had to insulate my outfit for operation below zero (F) for a few months of the year. You really did a first class job on the plywood smoker.

Best Wishes,
Chuckwagon

Ahhhhh ! Chuckwagon,
Thank you for the comments !

The trials and tribulations of we, the committed smokers ! Luckily, most of us have the patience and the gratitude of the recipients of our products..........

Regards,
Gus - Snagman

JerBear · Post by **JerBear** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 18:51

snagman wrote: That one bottle in the photo drops the temp by 15 degrees C, and until it melts its pretty stable at that.

As I'm in the process of building my smoker and live in a warmer part of the U.S. I've been giving cooling options some thought and I like your idea of the frozen water bottles. How long do the bottles last before thawing?

DiggingDogFarm · Post by **DiggingDogFarm** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 20:23

snagman wrote:
DiggingDogFarm wrote:Nice smokers!

Neat copy of the A-Maze-N pellet smoke generator....I've been working on something similar that's infinitely expandable.

~Martin
Martin, interesting.......... expandable ? Do you mean a larger container for longer burns ? The unit you see burns for 8 hours half filled. My one problem with its it puts out more smoke than I want, so restricting the airflow to it is always a guess. It is though a brilliant cold smoker. Please let me know how your project goes.
Regards,
Gus

Both the smoke level and the duration are adjustable.
I only have one more kink to work out, I was hoping to be able to use stock steel....but it appears that I'll need to do some altering.
I believe the idea would be patentable, but there's no way I could ever afford a patent.
I'll detail more here in the forum when I get the final model up and running.

~Martin

snagman · Post by **snagman** » Tue Oct 11, 2011 23:03

Martin,

I made mine from perforated aluminium, 1.6mm thick. I have machinery to cut aluminium and bend it, but not stainless. I don't see any difference between the two materials which would affect performance in this application.

Regards