Easy to Make Cold Smoke Generator

[Richierich]

Did some Cheese at the weekend, and have a few observations to make regarding the air pump cold smoke generator.

The last time I used this I put some foil over the top of the can in an attempt to generate a little more resistance for the pump to push against, rather than the air just getting lost, it seemed to work well. This time I did not, after around 3 1/2 hours things started to get a bit out of control, it seems the wood had generated enough heat that the air from the pump was not satisfying it, and it seemed to be drawing air in from the top, I popped out to check on it and noticed the smoker sitting at around 35C, not great for cold smoking anything, especially cheese. The wood was almost on fire, it seemed that as it smouldered for the first 3 hours it had become charcoal and as it got more air had just set on fire.

Do you think it was the lack of a top on the can which caused my issues? Or do I need to regulate the air flow, even when I turned the pump of it still went mental.

I use the soldering iron to get the thing going, leaving it in the chips for around 20 minutes, although it went out twice and I had to reintroduce it, has anyone else used the soldering iron to get the chips going and how long have you left it in for? Not a great method as I have to start it off in the garage!

Must say the cheese is lovely, got a lovely colour, although I must give the smoker a wipe out, its got a bit of rust appearing in the lid, and placing the lid on knocked this off onto the cheese!!

Do you think I could spray the inside of the lid with stove paint?? Does anyone else have a rusty lid or smoker, do you bother cleaning or just leave it??

[saucisson]

I have quite a wide tin, maybe should have gone for a taller, thinner one.

My homebrew tins are twice as tall as they are wide and it's well nigh impossible to keep a tealight alight in the bottom of one without airholes, I wonder if your can is too wide in comparison ie you do need a lid to restrict oxygen from getting in at the top.

My smoker has got quite rusty, I'm going to season it in the spring (wipe it with cooking oil and bake).

I've not tried the soldering iron with the air pump yet.

Dave

[Hoggy]

Hello All

I have been quiet for long time, but Hoggy is back now ! This coming week I will do a final setup ( ebay" thing ") of my rig and am planning to share with you all on a few web-pages.
I have read all new comments that came since I left the forum but it still leaves me with some questions, perhaps that my 2 cents and yours can make a dollar !

1. What is better, burning from the top or bottom, and how long does your experience last ? I would like a setup for 6 - 8 hours.
2. Can copper be used as tubing for the smoke ?
3. What " stuff " do you think is best in your experience ?

Thanks in advance, I hope to update you all after next weekend.

Hoggy

DONT DELAY IF YOU CAN SMOKE TODAY

[Hoggy]

Just to give you an update : I have prepared a small site with the development of my cold smoke generator. Next week I will attach it to my smoker, but I need to modify that one first.
On the site is a clear explanation of how it works and what I did for it, what wood and so on.
This CSG works exactly like the Ebay one from Porky Pa, but this one fills my needs better, nothing wrong with the one from Ebay....

Any questions or comments are welcome.

Have fun / Hoggy


http://www.procast-designs.com/smoker/

[saucisson]

That is very pretty, I look forward to seeing it in action on your website. Let us know when you next update it.

Dave

[Iamarealbigdog]

Hoggy

Nice set-up,

I like the ss container and then an insert to defuse the air flow, and the inner paint-can can be discarded when it starts to break down. The plumbing for the exit smoke look bang on.


Ok so We have two containers, the inner paint can is interchangeable, has all the fuel and handles the burn. It has holes the bottom and top to allow for air flow in under pressure and smoke flow out which is captured by the second ss container which is routed through the plumbing.

What are you using to cap the s/s container...?

[Hoggy]

Hi Big Dog,

Yes, working with insert-cans is very practicle. You can prepare the second one before the first one is done, this works very well. On the long run I will make probably SSteel insert-cans, but only when I can find the materials cheap. The utensil holder is 4 mm thick !!!! that one will last forever.
I do not have a cap for the utensil holder yet, during my tests I used a steel plate over it, which I closed with some tape. Next week I will be in my shop and will see what I come up with.
You mention overpressure, but 1500cc/min is really not so much, but it is true...as long as air comes out it would build an overpressure.

I have made a smoker from an old fridge for my father in law, I used an old stove next to it to create heat and smoke, it was hard to control, but did some excellent pork and brisket in it. My father in law is more interested in smoking ham, so next week I will rebuild the old one and ad the cold smoke generator. I will put in a heating element as source for the heat.

During those days I will take some pictures, perhaps even one or two small videos so everybody can see.

By the way, nice site you have.

Hoggy

[saucisson]

One of our UK members imported a Porky Pa generator (the one that sparked this thread off) and is smoking with it right now, hopefully he will post a full report in here. Now I've sealed the base of my water smoker to keep the mice out I have a few more joints of ham to smoke.

Dave

[Hoggy]

Hey Dave,
Ever tried to keep the mice IN ? Who knows how good it is....
Hoggy

[saucisson]

last session they chewed through 5kgs of fish while I was smoking it (well a taste of each) To be fair, it was probably after the smoke had stopped, and I left it out there becuase it was colder than the fridge, thinking it would be safe.

[Hoggy]

Hi all,

I have updated the site, you can now see a small video with a second test I did. It is all explained on the site.

Enjoy

Hoggy

http://www.procast-designs.com/smoker/

[DarrinG]

Hey Hoggy,

Nice to see that you have come back to join us. I've taken a bit of time to look at your new fangled gizmo.

First off I can't play your video. I don't know why, I tried to download it directly but its missing some Mpeg 4 codex.

Secondly your rig looks pretty sweet. Defiantly a lot nicer then Sked. 40 pipe. Your condenser is a great idea. I had tweaked my unit after and made the body taller to help with the condensation problem. Also I noticed on yours that you moved the smoke outlet to the top which is also something that I did. The condensation fix didn't work but the smoke outlet on the top works beautifully and also helps when it comes to mounting the unit to my other smoker.

I also love the idea of the replaceable cartridges. The unit I built burned so completely that you just had to remove the top and bottom cap screws refill and relight and within minutes you were back up and smoking.

One interesting thing was that with your burn container at approximately 94 cubic inches burns for 3 hours. Whereas my original design of 50 cubic inches it only burned for 1 hour.

I tried to burn chunks of wood in mine but it would bridge and not burn.

Well I hope I can view the video sometime and keep us posted on new mods.

DarrinG

:edit: right after I posted this message the window with the video started to play. Looks really cool.

[wallie]

Hi DarrinG
Re the video, as Hoggy say's in the caption 'Be Patient'
It took 4mins to load on my system then played o/k

wallie

[Hoggy]

DarrinG

I updated the site again, at 10.00 I had to go, but the CSG was smoking stronger again...! At 3.00 AM ( came back ) no smoke but still hot ! 140 F
Think I had 1/2 cup of condense water in total with this test, this is more then the available volume in the condenser, have to think about that.

I will make a holder on the side of my smoker to place the Ssteel can in, the copper connection is too fragile for that.

I am very happy with this result, the CSG itself is fool proof, I can burn lumps and have a replaceable can system. I am sure it is the configuration of the charcoal that is the secret for a long burn, any ideas ?

Today I will look for the video, in Windows it takes much more time to load then in Netscape.

Hoggy

[wheels]

Hoggy
I'm getting a '404 Page not found' when I try to access the vid.

Phil