smoker modifications

[2012_taco]

I don't know if this belongs in this thread or in the "what's in your smoker" thread, but I'm thinking of trying to modify my vertical propane smoker to an offset smoker. I have a problem trying to smoke sausage etc that requires a cold smoke 130-180 degrees. My smoker gets too hot and when I throttle it down it doesn't produce smoke. So I'm thinking of using the propane smoker for the burner and ducting to a separate chamber for the meat. I was thinking it would allow me to generate the smoke without the direct heat. I'm a carpenter not a welder and I don't have access to the metal barrels so I'm thinking of building a wood box to use for the smoke chamber. I know that wood burns but I don't think it will with the heat source far enough away. The other thought is the wood will suck up all the smoke and drippings. Any thoughts? I'll post any pics and results. Hopefully I don't burn down my garage!

[2012_taco]

Well I literally roughed this together. I didn't take much time as I figured if it doesn't work I'll only be out some garbage picked plywood. I made a box and put in a metal baffle just above the intake vent, ( left over ductwork) thinking it would help disperse the smoke. I cut o 4" hole in the top to vent it, and installed a flapper on it to control the smoke.  I just used a piece of dowel to hang some kielbasa from. I'll know soon enough is it's a keeper.

[G-Man]

I would line the inside with aluminium,  you could of skipped this step, I worry about temps and the phenols in the plywood glue at those temps. If was done with solid board tongue and groove or whole panels you wouldn't need to worry..wood has been used for smoke houses for years

Edited February 18, 2019 by G-Man

[2012_taco]

13 hours ago, G-Man said:

I would line the inside with aluminium,  you could of skipped this step, I worry about temps and the phenols in the plywood glue at those temps. If was done with solid board tongue and groove or whole panels you wouldn't need to worry..wood has been used for smoke houses for years

I never thought about the off gassing of the glues in the plywood. i did run the smoker empty for a couple of hours to make sure it was working. Hopefully that sealed the plywood with smoke.  I ended up finishing the sausage in the original smoker as the box wouldn't heat up to much more than 110* and I needed to get the meat up to 155. The kielbasa turned out pretty good, I'll post a pic later.

[2012_taco]

Here's the finished product. I hope I don't get sick from the toxic glues. I just did some research and found out that plywood can be real bad. I don't think I got the temps up high enough to release the bad gasses.?? I also put the sausage in a pot of fresh water and brought it up to 170* and simmered for 45 minutes. then put in an ice water bath to cool it. Hopefully that helped wash off the toxic stuff?

Edited February 19, 2019 by 2012_taco
added text.

[Otto]

15 hours ago, 2012_taco said:

Well I literally roughed this together. I didn't take much time as I figured if it doesn't work I'll only be out some garbage picked plywood. I made a box and put in a metal baffle just above the intake vent, ( left over ductwork) thinking it would help disperse the smoke. I cut o 4" hole in the top to vent it, and installed a flapper on it to control the smoke.  I just used a piece of dowel to hang some kielbasa from. I'll know soon enough is it's a keeper.

Just a thought....instead of the wood box you made, could you use a 30 gal metal garbage can as the smoke reservoir instead?  Put your vent in the bottom and cut another smaller vent up top?   Less worries about toxic glues, etc.  

I have a small brinkman smoker and temps are hard to regulate, especially low slow ones.  

[Culvercreek hunt club]

If that doesn't work out for you you can try what I did. Just put an inline gas ball valve on the supply side of the propane smoker and before the units High Med Low valve. I can run at 160-170 using that adjustment. We just did 100# of bologna and 70# of hot dogs this weekend and since I don't use high temp cheese in the hot dogs I try to stay under 180 so the cheese doesn't melt down. it works well. 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

9 minutes ago, Otto said:

  Less worries about toxic glues, etc.  

  

but I wouldn't use galvanized. 

[mowin]

I've smoked a lot of sausage in my propane smoker.  I added a bayou classic needle value to the gas line to control temps.  I then did a mailbox mod to except a amazin tube smoke generator for smoke.

Was able to get temps as low as 110.   

 

[Robhuntandfish]

maybe find an old grill - always see people getting rid of them.  Usually because burners etc dont work anymore.  All you would need is the shell 

[Culvercreek hunt club]

7 minutes ago, Robhuntandfish said:

maybe find an old grill - always see people getting rid of them.  Usually because burners etc dont work anymore.  All you would need is the shell 

I've seen people do just that with an old Weber  Charcoal grill. 

[moog5050]

Amaz-n pellet smoker tray.   Costs $30.   Adds no heat but plenty of smoke.   Can cold smoke with it or toss it in your current smoker on whatever temp you like.  They work awesome.  

[The_Real_TCIII]

I've smoked a lot of sausage in my propane smoker.  I added a bayou classic needle value to the gas line to control temps.  I then did a mailbox mod to except a amazin tube smoke generator for smoke.
Was able to get temps as low as 110.   
 

Can you burn junk mail and smoke meats??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

[mowin]

19 minutes ago, The_Real_TCIII said:

Can you burn junk mail and smoke meats??


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

Definitely don't toss democratic election fliers in it. You'll taint the meat for sure. 

[2012_taco]

6 hours ago, Culvercreek hunt club said:

If that doesn't work out for you you can try what I did. Just put an inline gas ball valve on the supply side of the propane smoker and before the units High Med Low valve. I can run at 160-170 using that adjustment. We just did 100# of bologna and 70# of hot dogs this weekend and since I don't use high temp cheese in the hot dogs I try to stay under 180 so the cheese doesn't melt down. it works well. 

I already added a valve in line to lower the temps, the problem is that the chips don't produce smoke unless I  crank up the propane to at least 180-200° that's why I  wanted to try the offset chamber.

[2012_taco]

6 hours ago, mowin said:

I've smoked a lot of sausage in my propane smoker.  I added a bayou classic needle value to the gas line to control temps.  I then did a mailbox mod to except a amazin tube smoke generator for smoke.

Was able to get temps as low as 110.   

 

I'll have to look  into the mailbox mod. So the smoke is generated in the mailbox and the heat in the smoker?

[Culvercreek hunt club]

12 minutes ago, 2012_taco said:

I already added a valve in line to lower the temps, the problem is that the chips don't produce smoke unless I  crank up the propane to at least 180-200° that's why I  wanted to try the offset chamber.

drop the chip container down

[mowin]

5 hours ago, 2012_taco said:

I'll have to look  into the mailbox mod. So the smoke is generated in the mailbox and the heat in the smoker?

Yes, the amazn tube smoke generator uses pellets.  The tube goes into the mailbox. 

U can cold smoke cheese easily because the tube is a couple feet from the main chamber.