Fire proof sawdust?

[Salmo]

Hello all.
Now that the weather has cooled down it's time to get some serious cold smoking going.
I have a few very nice Rainbow trout in the freezer,courtesy of Hanningfield reservoir,& will be making smoked trout for Christmas.
Today I placed my latest batch of bacon in the smoke chamber & charged my pro Q with my latest batch of Oak sawdust.
Trouble is I cannot get it to stay "alight"
I bought about 10 kg of it from e bay at a much better price than the pro Q manufacturers sell it for.
It is more course than the pro Q material,but I would have thought that would make it burn more quickly.
I tried microwaving some,in case it was too damp,but that made no difference.
I tried the blow torch on it & that seemed OK,but again it went out after some minutes.
Never had this problem before & it must be the dust that's the problem.
I'm sure somebody on this site has a foolproof method of getting sawdust to "go", so please share.
Many thanks.

[NCPaul]

The size of the dust has a great impact on it's ability to stay lit; I did the same experiment as you and even tried to reduce the dust size with a spice grinder. The pro-Q dust is run through a hammer mill to get the right size. You might be able to make a workable blend with what you have.

[wheels]

The only thing that I can think of would be to use it as a layer on top of (say) ProQ beech dust.

Not that much help when you've got 10kg of it, but the best I can think of at present.
Phil

[Salmo]

Thanks for the input gents.
Seems really strange to me that my course dust refuses to burn when the fine stuff is OK.
This course dust must contain more air,so should burn more readily --bizarre
Will sieve some as an experiment and report back.
Smokey bacon toast sandwich for breakfast in the morning- roll on!

[onewheeler]

The only thing that I can think of would be to use it as a layer on top of (say) ProQ beech dust.

I've got some alder which is a bit coarse and which goes out rather frequently. Mixed 50/50 with beech it nearly always burns straight through. The beech came from hotmoked.co.uk, and all of their dust which I've bought is finer (and cheaper?) than ProQ. Never had any problem keeping it going, although it burns a little (15%?) quicker than the "proper" stuff.

Martin/

[DanMcG]

Maybe the dust has to much moisture in it. Try microwaving it for a minute or two.

[ped]

Try tamping the sawdust down before lighting

[kil2k]

How long did you microwave it for? I usually microwave my Ashwoods dust for 4 x 2mins, leaving it to rest for a min or so between blasts, then mixing and putting back in.

If it's just too course, I'd recommend ordering a sack of dust from Ashwoods [very, very cost effective - even after delivery] and mixing them together.

[Swing Swang]

If it's Ashwoods stuff that I split with you kil2k then I'll vouch that it's good stuff - I just keep on microwaving for a minute and stirring until the spoon that I'm stirring it with comes out dry and clean. What I don't do (anymore) is just leave it in the microwave for 5 mins - starts to smoulder and turns the microwave into a mini smoke house, sets of the alarms, stinks out the house, and you get to sleep on the spare bed...

[Salmo]

How long did you microwave it for? I usually microwave my Ashwoods dust for 4 x 2mins, leaving it to rest for a min or so between blasts, then mixing and putting back in.

I did only microwave it for a minute so perhaps a longer blast is the answer.
The dust was described as "kiln dried" and certainly felt dry even before I microwaved it.
Will try a longer session in the micro & see how it goes .
Thanks

[yotmon]

I find that 2 minutes can be too much in a microwave - soon goes black in the centre and becomes combustible. Always keep a close eye on the sawdust whilst drying and stir it regularly to distribute the heat.

[DanMcG]

I find that 2 minutes can be too much in a microwave - soon goes black in the centre and becomes combustible.

I had that happen once, boy did my kitchen smell great, till the wife got home. Now I keep a good eye on it.

[kil2k]

I find that 2 minutes can be too much in a microwave - soon goes black in the centre and becomes combustible.

I had that happen once, boy did my kitchen smell great, till the wife got home. Now I keep a good eye on it.

Ha ha!