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Has anyone tried using a portable electric induction hotplate as the heat source for cold smoking?

I have used the CSG for quite a while, with great success, but it is fuel fussy and is now getting pretty well clogged up (I have soaked and cleaned it several times) and starting to fall apart. I've made a few venturi smokers, which pump out copious amounts of smoke...uncontrollably, and tend to get full of condensation if you try to close them down. The soldering iron in a can technique has proved useless.

The idea of a portable induction hob, which is controllable and doesn't generate any direct heat, except to heat a shallow metal baking tray with oak dust in it, appeals to me.

Any thoughts?

Having used them camping they are rather sensitive to condensation and also need a source of fresh air for their cooling fan. Do you really want to pump smoke and tar all around the delicate electronics?

It would be way down below the cabinet and I reckon the draught would take the smoke up & away from the hot plate. Beside, you can buy one for £8.00 less than a CSG! At £35.00, plus postage, plus expensive dust...I think the CSG is a rip-off!

You could always make a csg yourself. There's instructions on here somewhere.

I've tried all-sorts in the cold-smoking line and the CSG really is the easiest for unaccompanied smoking over long periods IMO.

Phil

JollyJohn wrote:It would be way down below the cabinet and I reckon the draught would take the smoke up & away from the hot plate.

If you're going to try it I would try and make a baffle plate so that the base of the induction hob with the fan in it is isolated from the smoking chamber.

The CSG built similarly to a venturi but that puts smoke across the burning medium (i.e. air enters at bottom and exits at top of combustion chamber that contains wood and ember) seems to work great for me and will produce a solid 8 hours of consistent smoke with some water condensation.

This is roughly the same as some "easy to build" plans that are located in this subforum.

Remind me Wunderdave,please, I can't recall those. Can you post the links 'cos I'm busy elsewhere. If there's something I'm missing, I'd love to try it. My trouble is that I'm dependent on others for engineering/welding type stuff.

If JollyJohn'll give the OK (as he's the OP) maybe the debate can be widened into "what is the best method for cold smoking?"

Phil

No problem Phil, let's debate.

I will say that the best results I've had, has been with the CSG, I am just looking for a cheaper method. The CSG is fuel fussy, as would be any home made version, so I guess we're stuck with buying expensive dust. But at least I can save the £35.00 for the genuine Item. I see there are lots of SS mesh sheets available on Ebay.

It might be worth having a word with Ashwoods to see whether their dust is compatible with the csg. The stuff I got from them ages ago was and cost less than a tenner for 20kg -25kg. Even with (say) £15 postage, this would still be less than £1 per kg - 10p per csg smoke.

I don't have an electric point in my garden so electricity is out for me. I used to use gas, but the cost adds up when you're doing a 3 day smoke - that's worth bearing in mind when considering electric.

I've not seen much mention of the 'pumped air' type systems since the csg appeared on the scene, I know Dave (saucisson) made one, as did others. Given the options I know of, that would be my choice if I wasn't using the Pro Q csg!

Phil

I just looked at Ashwoods website, which grade of dust do you reckon would be most suitable for a CSG type smoker Phil?

I have welded up a couple of different aquarium pump powered venturi smoke generators. They are ok for a big smoke house I guess, they work best when on full blast, producing copious amounts of smoke, but choke up with condensation if you try to slow them down. I found myself having to keep an eye them constantly, and the results were nowhere near as good as the CSG.

John.

I'd ask them John. They used to supply Pro Q: I don't know whether they still do. Therefore, I assume that they're aware of the problems with the CSG and their dust. If they still supply Pro Q, then theer's no problem - if not, maybe they'll supply a sample 100gm for you to try. Mac form Pro Q says that coarser stuff works if well tamped down, but I've not tried this personally.

Phil

Cheers Phil.

I have emailed them for information, plus price and delivery, I'll update when I hear back from them.

At the moment, I am giving my CSG a second application of "Mr Muscle" oven cleaner, seems to be slowly softening the hard deposit.

I know it sounds daft, but i wonder if it could be burnt off?

Phil

Yes, it can be burnt off. My generator is the home-made folded steel mesh variety (I've made several for friends, can knock them out in ten minutes now). Not pretty but it works. It clogs after twenty or thirty burns, a couple of minutes with a blowlamp restore it to new condition.

Not sure I'd try it with a Pro-Q csg, they look as if they're hard-soldered and could fall apart with a good blast of heat.

I've used both ProQ dust and hotsmoked.co.uk dust. The latter is a bit cheaper and has some extra varieties.It's finer than the ProQ and burns a bit faster (perhaps 20 - 30% quicker), might be worth trying some very gentle dampening to slow it. Something to try next time.

Martin/

Thanks Martin.

Do you make your's like the one here:

viewtopic.php?f=9&t=6869&hilit=csg

I'm not 'up' on these sort of things. What thickness wire would I need, and what number of wires per inch?

Any other advice/instructions will be much appreciated.

Phil