Cold Smoke Generator

[TrickyDick]

Starting a new thread to discuss DIY cold smoke generators.

 

This had come up in another thread and I didn't want to hijack the thread off-topic.

 

It was brought up by member darch who had such a generator, that I should do so, in order to further elaborate on his generator.

 

Why?

 

I am in the midst of building a dry-cure chamber for homemade charcuterie, and fermented sausages, some of which might require cold smoking.  I am wondering if it is feasible to consider integrating this into the design of the chamber or to build as a stand alone.

 

Thanks

 

TD

[Dave W]

Build a smoke generator that's portable then you can use it in your chamber, in your outside smoker or in a cardboard box.

You don't want to have the generator affixed to your curing chamber since you may need flexibility to apply smoke to something while your chamber is occupied with an unsmoked product drying.

[Dave W]

The actual process is exceedingly simple: heat plus fuel plus oxygen will produce the combustion you need. If you can limit the heat or the oxygen you can control the amount of smoke and its qualities. Unlimited inputs of the above will produce a fire which is of course undesirable.

Edited April 23, 2015 by Dave W (log)

[radtek]

I use a $3 soldering iron stuck in a soup can of wood chips. Made sure to burn off the interior plastic first.

 

Poke a few holes in the can for some air flow and it'll smolder real nice. 

[TrickyDick]

Have seen similar soldering iron smokers before.  Have heard of using sawdust.  It is difficult to find a source for hardwood sawdust .  I have a pellet smoker and could optionally use the pellets I suppose or break them down into sawdust they are made from.  How does the soldering iron smoker prevent combustion and actual flames?

 

So back to this soup can idea.  You save the lid? where do you poke the holes?  how much fuel/chips do you add?

 

TD

[btbyrd]

I have an A-maze-n tube smoker that works great for both hot and cold smoking. It's fantastic.

[Dave W]

To make pellets into sawdust for smoking, get the pellets thoroughly wet, then allow them to dry completely. Et voila.

[gfweb]

As mentioned eslewhere I have a small hotplate I put in my gas grill. On it, I roast foil wrapped dry sticks which smoke like crazy. Works well. temp in the chamber is around the ambient temp. Cost is about $10.

[TrickyDick]

Ok So I made a cold smoke generator from a soup can today.  Punched a few holes.  No plastic lining on this.  Drilled a hole for my soldering iron.  Scooped up a few wood pellets.  I put a double layer tin foil "lid" in which I poked a few holes though I'm not sure that this is necessary.  So far there is gentle smoke coming out of the tin foil lid.  Have it setup in my grill with a grill temp probe reading 81º which is the ambient temperature right now.  Its not heating up the grill (which my Amaze-in tube smoker does) so it seems will be suitable for cold smoking!  Thanks!  super easy, and cost me nothing since I already had the soup can, pellets and soldering iron.

 

edit- while I was writing, I notice there were some replies.  My tube smoker will actually heat up my grill I've noticed.  I have that amaze-in one.  I find it is also difficult to light.

 

Waiting to hear from DARCH about the cold smoke generator he uses.  One limitation of the soup can might be the volume of smoke and time to get a good smoke flavor with a fairly small amount smoke produced.  Might be the tin foil. 

 

edit 2 - I take that back.  This little soup can really cranks out the smoke.  I left the foil "lid" on and checked it again and its going crazy.

 

TD

Edited April 23, 2015 by TrickyDick (log)

[TrickyDick]

So it turns out that the grill temp did rise a bit, but only 5º.  Still much better than with the tub smoker.  Plus, I can use this just about anywhere. 

[radtek]

Sounds like you figured it out! 

[scubadoo97]

Ok So I made a cold smoke generator from a soup can today. Punched a few holes. No plastic lining on this. Drilled a hole for my soldering iron. Scooped up a few wood pellets. I put a double layer tin foil "lid" in which I poked a few holes though I'm not sure that this is necessary. So far there is gentle smoke coming out of the tin foil lid. Have it setup in my grill with a grill temp probe reading 81º which is the ambient temperature right now. Its not heating up the grill (which my Amaze-in tube smoker does) so it seems will be suitable for cold smoking! Thanks! super easy, and cost me nothing since I already had the soup can, pellets and soldering iron.

edit- while I was writing, I notice there were some replies. My tube smoker will actually heat up my grill I've noticed. I have that amaze-in one. I find it is also difficult to light.

Waiting to hear from DARCH about the cold smoke generator he uses. One limitation of the soup can might be the volume of smoke and time to get a good smoke flavor with a fairly small amount smoke produced. Might be the tin foil.

edit 2 - I take that back. This little soup can really cranks out the smoke. I left the foil "lid" on and checked it again and its going crazy.

TD

Don't have the pics on my pad but I'm sure I've posted pics here before

I tricked my coconut milk can out with a fitting at the bottom to attach an air hose with an in line valve connected to an aquarium air pump. It really pumps out the smoke and is adjustable

[dcarch]

Teaser picture. More later.

 

 

Cold smoke and hot smoke, PID control, indoor smoker. 

 

Smoke generator uses pellets, 24 hour burn with no supervision. Quality and quantity of smoke are adjustable.

 

dcarch

 

 

[Willie]

This is my tin can cold smoker I have been using for about two years. I pulled it out of the smoker box to take pictures. It runs on pellets and you could hold on to the pipe all day if you wanted to, does not get hot. I light it with a hand held propane torch. 

 

Materials needed, 1' X 3/4" black pipe, 8" X 1/4" copper pipe and two cans and a large fish tank or small pond pump, also one tin can lid and a small nut and bolt. Tools needed, drill, bits and hack saw for the copper.  About time to replace the bottom can.

 

The top can not only holds the smoke in it acts like a bellow when the smouldering pellets sometimes slows down. Just lift it up and down fast a few times and it takes off again.

 

About time to replace the bottom can.

 

When I replace the bottom can I will take it all apart and photograph all the parts and post.  

 

 

[TrickyDick]

Looking forward to seeing more photos of BOTH those smokers!  Thanks for sharing!

[scubadoo97]

Here are a couple of pics

[rotuts]

Im so happy this got revived.

 

Sooooo

 

keep them coming   

[TrickyDick]

Here are a couple of pics

That looks similar to the Bradley system.  Does the ducting get hot (notices the hot pad)? 

I'm curing a steelhead fillet and will be using my cold smoker later this week.  Found my older cheaper soldering iron in the garage too so I won't need to buy another for soldering jobs, or borrow from the smoker.

[Willie]

Scubadoo, sure would like to know how your system works. 

 

Dcarch, that smoker looks like you borrowed parts from the space station for that build, have no idea how yours works either but looks way cool!

 

Might be more then this country bone head can understand. LOL!! no really!

[scubadoo97]

TD, sure you know but make sure to use a soldering iron which has not been used to solder with lead or other toxic solder

I'm in cont ed class this weekend but will get a few more pics up soon. Pretty simple system to make. My smoker is an old Masterbuilt 30 electric smoker with the chip feeder removed to facilitate the cold smoker

[TrickyDick]

Can I just clean the tip really well?? I am not sure if it's been used with lead solder is a real concern as lead doesn't vaporize to my knowledge. Maybe removing the tip would work just as well however.

[scubadoo97]

I don't have toxin phobias but thought it should be mentioned in the tread.

That should be okay. Hell we use to play with mercury in grade school. Rolled the stuff in my hands many times. It was cool at the time. Now they will evacuate a square mile [emoji102] if any mercury is spilled.

[dcarch]

I consider a smoker is an essential appliance which can add a lot to eating pleasure. So I decided to put a little effort into coming up with a smoker which can deal with many of the common short comings of a typical smoker.

 

1. I want a smoker which can cold smoke and hot smoke, year round. 

2. Flexible control of smoke quantity and quality.

3. Minimum creosote generation.

4. Easy to light.

5. economical to operate.

6. minimum supervision, Long running time.

7. Precise temperature control.

8. Good humidity control.

 

9. Most importantly indoor smoking!!!

 

As it turned out, it was not that difficult to accomplish all the above.

 

Using a 4.5 cu ft operating refrigerator, a PID controller, a heater, a motor driven blower with a speed controller and an ultrasonic humidifier, I was able to get things done.

 

The smoke generator using a speed controlled blower ( B) gives me much better smoke control, much better than a Venturi aquarium air pump.

The smoke passes thru a standard brass accordion pipe which cools the smoke as well as condenses a lot creosote into a bottle (A - cancer-in-a-bottle). Thru a two-way valve (D), the smoke passes thru a viewing port (E) which has an LED light to show quantity of smoke without having to open the smoker to check. If I have to open the smoker to check the food, I would turn the two-way valve (D) and turn on exhaust blower ( C ) to evacuate all the smoke inside the smoker to outside, this way I would not smoke the whole house.

 

The smoke generator is a 4" stainless steel tube with a variable air intake port. One pound of pellets can last about 24 hours burn. 

 

So far, everything has been working well for a few years. 

 

dcarch

 

 

 

 

 

Edited April 26, 2015 by dcarch (log)

[rotuts]

what is " A "  'tar' collector ?

[Smithy]

what is " A "  'tar' collector ?

 

It looks like it's just a plastic bottle of the right size to collect the tar that condenses from the smoke.  Is that what you mean?

 

My question about the tar collector is whether the tar flows easily enough that you can empty and reuse the bottle, or sets up so firmly that the bottle has to be replaced?

 

Next question: what sort of pellets?  Can you get different woods in pellet form? Could you use chips instead?