Dr Dave's cold smoker now works :)

[saucisson]

It's been a long trip, but I think I've got there. I wanted to genuinely cold smoke in a barbeque. I had a lot of inspiration and help from the forum and I'd like to thank (in no particular order) Jennny and Gill for trying out some of my wacky ideas, Wohoki for a good link to charcoal discs, and Dougal for the soldering iron link.


I'm now cold smoking a side of salmon, and a couple of loins of bacon in my bbq using a 25w soldering iron and a baked bean can

Photos to follow....

[jenny_haddow]

We are waiting with bated breath to view your system. I'm honoured to have assisted in its development!

Jen

[aris]

Yes, I want to see it too - I want to make a cold smoker too!

[saucisson]

I'll try and get some images up tonight, but it really is very simple. I got a weller professional 25W soldering iron off ebay for �3. I think it is probably important to try and get one that can run all day without burning out. If you can get one where you can control the temperature cheaply so much the better but the standard 25W one I got seems fine. The diameter of the iron is 9mm so I took a used baked bean can and drilled a 9mm hole into the side of it at the first ring about 20mm from the bottom. It's important to get a reasonably tight fit as you don't want any (much) air getting in through the hole when the iron is in place. If you can take the top off with one of those can openers whereby you can replace the the lid so much the better.
Place woodchips/sawdust/shavings in the can and place in bbq and switch on. Some heat will be generated but the bbq should be able to dissipate it, just don't put food directly above the top of the can.

Depending on how flammable the chips are it will be useful to have a series of lids with differing sized holes in to help control the burn rate and avoid ignition, but if the seal around the iron is good enough they may not be necessary. I had a steady trickle of smoke all day yesterday, without stinking out the neigbourhood, which has been my problem in the past. The can may need a little shake every hour or so to keep shavings in touch with the iron, but I found a small allison yeast tin with most of the base drilled out so as not to block the air flow helped keep shavings in contact with the iron. Smaller chips or good old sawdust may be less of a problem. I used a seasoned plum tree log which I drilled through a couple of times with a 20mm forstner bit to generate a mix of sawdust shavings and chips which seems to work well and smells gorgeous.

I'll try and get those pictures up later,

Dave

[saucisson]

OK, here is the smoker, note that it has been running all day and the paper on the can is not even discoloured:



Here is the sawdust:



and here is the grub :


Dave

[saucisson]

And here in a kettle bbq:



Salmon is already in the fridge


Dave

[aris]

What is the smoking chamber made from?

[saucisson]

Hi Aris, what did you mean by smoke chamber? I'm probably just being dense here

Dave

[vinner]

Hey, Dave. Time to patent and produce your invention. Great idea. How full did you fill the can? Were the chips dry or soaked?Did you put a lid on? How often did you have to fiddle with it? And how is your finger?

[aris]

By smoke chamber I mean the container you did the smoking in. I looks like a barrel of some sort?

[eddy current]

Not wishing to pour cold water on the use of Weller soldering irons.
(no pun intended)

A WORD OF WARNING!

Having used Weller irons virtually on a daily basis for some 20 years I would suggest you check the tip on a regular basis.
The tips, especially on temperature controlled irons are not a solid piece of metal. The tips on temperature controlled irons have a number stamped on the end of them, the higher the number, the hotter the tip. They are contructed on the lines of a full metal jacket bullet i.e.
metal on the outside with an inner core. After prolonged use a hole can appear in the outer metal and if water, damp or solder gets in there the tip can explode. Not really serious if contained in a metal can but can be quite dangerous if doing some close soldering work.

[saucisson]

ok, typing one handed tonight

Aris: it's a brinkman upright water smoker, but I checked it out tonight in a B&Q kettle barbeque and it works just the same.

eddy current: good point, I wasn't aware of that, the one I've got has all the heat in the barrel and the point is a solid slug of metal sticking out of the end, most of the heat is in the barrel.

Vinner: chips were over 90% humidity when I drilled them out, my initial test just produced steam even though I felled the tree 3 years ago. A good drying helped enormously. The depth of chips doesn't seem to matter if they are loose, smoke still gets through. I checked it every hour or so through the day and gave it a wiggle or a top up. it worked best for me without a lid.

off to bed now so Mrs D can check the damage on my hand...

[georgebaker]

Hi

off to bed now so Mrs D can check the damage on my hand...

???

George

[saucisson]

Sorry George, I was doing some un-related DIY earlier in the day and gashed my left thumb and forefinger, I mentioned it in another thread, so some of the folks knew what I was rambling on about

[georgebaker]

Hi
hope you get better soon
George