Cold smoker design to be used INSIDE

[Hoggy]

I live in a condo just outside Montreal, no garden, no space, only a balcony and temperatures between -10C and -20C during the day. ( I won't even mention the snow and wind...)

I have made a cold smoker that is very easy to make yourself, cheap ( 25.00 $ ), safe and reliable, and most important, YOU CAN COLD SMOKE INSIDE YOUR HOUSE. ( of course you can use it outside as well...)
I will call it the HOGIS ( Hoggy's Inside Smoker )



Basically, I have made a tower of soft plastic food containers, simply placed on each other, with some bottoms and covers cut out, on the bottom openings I have placed plastic grades.



It is not a big smoker, dimensions of the tower 11" x 16" x 22" or 220 x 400 x 560 mm, but it is enough to do some serious salmon in winter time , and If I keep the grades out, I can hang sausages in it as well.....With this setup, I plan to smoke overnight, as the ProQ will smoke that kind of time. If I need more time to smoke than a night, I might consider to attach a plastic hose that leads to the ventilator...( I won't mention the ventilator in the bathroom.... )


Here is a top-view of one of the containers in the middle.




I will keep you all informed about my first smoke trial, hopefully next week, and if you want to have some more explanation about how it was made exactly, I am preparing a web-page about that.
Let me know what you experts think about this setup.

Hoggy

[wheels]

Ingenious!

[Hoggy]

Hi wheels

It is also an excellent solution for smokers where the wife complains that " you are never there ".....

AND: you are able to see through, probably the transparency will dissappear, but nothing is attached or fixed, it can all go in the dishwasher afterwards, you only need a new piece of masking tape to attach the door.

Hoggy

[wheels]

Get the wife involved - that's the best idea!

It'll be interesting to see whether the smoke pervades the kitchen, if it does you could presumably vent it outside?

Phil

[Hoggy]

My wife IS involved.....she is in charge of the dishwasher.

It'll be interesting to see whether the smoke pervades the kitchen, if it does you could presumably vent it outside?

The air of ventilator goes straight outside, it does not filter and circulate back into the kitchen, forgot to mention that.
To be honest, I do not think you can smoke with a circulating ventilator...the air has to go out and never come back.

There are all kind of alternatives I assume, but it was my goal to go for simplicity.....take it out, fill it up, in the dish washer, and back in the closet...( I mean the smoker...NOT the wife... )

Hoggy

[wheels]

I see now, thanks.

Phil

[saucisson]

Very Nice Hoggy

[Richierich]

I like that, have thought about indoor before, using a similar idea under the extractor, not sure about the Wifes reaction, also I would be concerned that the temp in the house will be too high.

[Hoggy]

My home is conditioned, temperatures are always between 21 - 23C ( 70 - 73F ), in summer, as well as in wintertime, so that shouldn't be any problem. But I guess you have to take care of it, that the sun doesn't shine on the smoker, if you would smoke during the day, as that would raise the temperature inside the smoker I assume.

I kept the possibility open to put ice, or a cooling element on the bottom , although I am not sure how much/long the effect would be. ( the height of the door starts at 2" or 50 mm). I have a cake form on the bottom upside down, that can cover a cooling element, see picture. ( cooling the heat source...the CSM will be placed on that, ) But I did it just as a possible precaution, we have to see.....

Also....don't know about the ratio volume smoker versus output ProQ, as this is not a large volume smoker.

Hoggy

[saucisson]

As cold air sinks, your ice block may be better placed if you put it in the top?

I think you should be OK on volume v output

Dave

[Hoggy]

Actually...a friend of mine ( yes.....I have friends.... ) tried that, but the cold air going down, prevented the small amount of smoke to go up. Our best guess was, that the smoke got cooled on its way up, and went back down. Don't forget, we have only a very small air displacement with the ProQ.
The idea of the cake form over the cooling element is, to absorb the small amount of heat, generated by the smoldering dust, but it is just an idea.

Marcel.

[Hoggy]

Dave,

To my knowledge, this would be the best solution for a cold smoker.
1. The air next to the cooling elements is cold and wants to go down.
2. The air coming from the CSM is warmer and want to go up.
3. This will create a good " airflow " ( push and pull )
4. Always cold air is provided, heat will not build up.
5. If necessary, you could replace cooling elements after some time, as the air-intake is separated from the smoker, you only need to make some sort of door, or you simply hang them in.

[saucisson]

That's a good point Hoggy thanks, I didn't think about that. Thinking about it a bit more I have have cold smoked in near freezing conditions where the temperature of the externally generated smoke was colder than inside the smoking chamber and by introducing it at the base it just sat in the bottom of chamber like dry ice generated "fog" on a film set. Under those circumstances I introduced the smoke at the top of the chamber and let it flow out of the bottom

I like the look of your solution because it will encourage air flow...

[Hoggy]

Lol Dave....did you turn the smoker upside down?

I will do the setup of the drawing next week, as all my stuff will be in.
I will first try out without, and I will make a seperate cooling holder and attach that to the door. I guess my setup is the best to get some reading, as the volume is rather small.

Yes, I think in case of the ProQ, it will encourage the airflow, which is important , it will also povide better oxygen, but that could perhaps result in faster burning, although one would still be able to sqeeze with the smoker outlet.

[Hoggy]

To all forum members

I have had a rather disturbing private message about me posting this inside smoker on the forum. Who it was is not important, but in case there are more people here with the same view, I will express the same answer here, as I did in my reply to the mail I got.

1. In no way, I try to imply that my smoker solution is good, it is merely an idea that I had, and I posted it on the forum, as there are far more experienced members than me on the forum, and I wanted their input on this idea BEFORE I started testing, as two know more than one....
2. For sure something like this can be done with a carton box as well, I never stated that this is the only way possible.
3. Yes, my smoker is probably more expensive that a carton box, but I am a perfectionist....I always try to go " one step further ", and try to make it the most suitable for me, like: it looks good, it is durable, I can use it outside in the rain, easy to store, and most important: I can clean it afterwards, so no smell, as I have to store it inside my home.

Below is a picture how it looks "operational", and not used.



Last but not least:
In NO WAY I have something to do with the ProQ smoke generator guys, or any other CSG manufacturer, I mention their CSG simply because I ordered one, after reading a lot of reviews about the ProQ ( good AND bad...), I could have ordered the A-Maze-N CSG, but I am still waiting for an answer on a question that I asked 3 weeks ago. Next to that, they promote starting that CSG on 2 or 3 sides, and I didn't like that so much. And yes, I could have made that GSM myself, but I believe that many times there is more to it, than simply make a few mesh channels. I am sure those guys had a hard time before they got the CSG that they have now, and for the amount that it costs, it is of no use to start to try to invent the wheel....I've been there, as so many others on the forum.

Marcel.