Hi all,
I saw this on Ebay also and did some testing myself, because it does not really look like rocket science and I wanted one that would smoke much longer.
Am a Ducht guy for 7 years now in Canada and I wanted to make a smoker that I can use in the basement without all the smell and I want to be able to cold smoke several days, but also to be able to smoke with higher temperatures.
I want to use a stove/oven that I will close very well with gaskets so it is "leak-proof" against the smoke. I saw the smoke generator at Ebay and in the afternoon I read this topic, here is " my bit ", it might help you all.
* To do my first test I used a muffler extension 2 1/2" x 8"
* I used Ssteel mesh, the ones you use to clean pots and pans, bought
at Walmart, cost almost nothing.
* The air pump I also bought at Walmart, costed me 13$, you might get
it cheaper somewhere ( Dollarmax ?)
Here are the specs : JetStream 1500 **1500 CC/min
Here is the first pic :
On top of the mesh I put some burning wood chips and then I filled it up around 2" high. So I started to burn from the bottom, and it took 1.3 hours to burn up, practucally no left overs, but I had to shake once or twice, the chips were too big I guess, the 5 x 5 mm chips are better I think then what I had.
Here is the second picture from the same test.
I had perfect smoke all the time, exect the one time I had to shake a bit.
The second test I used the same filling, but now I started to burn from the top, same filling, same chip.
THIS SECOND TEST BURNED 3 HOURS...only 2" high wood chips.
This 2nd test result was good enough to start to think BIG, I mean bigger capacity, because I only want to fill up once a day, in the morning and one time in the evening.
I want to use it as a side-unit ( like on Ebay ) that I can re-fill and of course it has to be bigger.
Went to an autoshop and bought a bigger extension muffler pipe, this time 3" x 20" Cost around 8 $
* I put the side pipe almost at the top
* On the bottom I use a strong round magnet with a gasket
paper inbetween, easay and fast to remove, if I take it away,
nothing falls out because the mesh is still on the bottom.
* On top I found at Rona ( Lowes or so ) an aluminium cap for
fences that fitted almost perfect, I taped it just to be sure...it costs 2$
* The air hose goes at the bottom through a hole in the pipe in the mesh.
Here is a picture, it is " live " and dark :
This is my first test with the " big one ", I have a burning piece of charcoal at the bottom, and filled it up with a mix of wood pellets and hickory chips.
I filled it up for 6 " and it is smoking now for 4 hours. The smoke is hard to see, but it is there.
I have started again with burning from the bottom because I could re-fill from the top, very convenient. I use the pellets as a mix because the are smooth, small and will go down easely.
Well, that's it for now.
Let me know if you are interested in follow ups, I will try to post them.
Hoggy.
" The beginning of knowledge is the discovery of something we do not understand. " ( Frank Hebert )