New old cold smoker and draft issues

dave17a · Mar 15, 2016

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dave17a
Mar 13, 2016

Moved My cold smoker up to hedge row. Been down by garage, where it was built. Old OK Joe grill. Took legs off,set up on rocks and leveled, aluminum duct work. Got smoke going, and humidity was high, misty and all. Wanted to draft at first then just back drafted. hard time keeping smoke rolling out back of smoker. Smoke would not hardly go above second hinge on right.Lowered Bacon to get the smoke. Raised duct to let flow and worked for awhile

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dave17a
Mar 13, 2016

See smoke rolling out of fire chamber. Natural resources.

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dave17a
Mar 13, 2016

This is what I mean flowing out the back.

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dave17a
Mar 13, 2016

Bacon in chamber. So the next deal is after the heavy air left, it drafted right. It did it right away next night. My solution is to bury fire chamber to get draft running up hill, which thought it was, Fire box is downhill. Vent is higher on fire chamber than inlet on smoke chamber. Think heavy air makes a difference? What do you th

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dave17a
Mar 13, 2016

ink?

daveomak · Mar 16, 2016

Very nice smoke house...

....

Warm air weighs less than cold air.....   Your duct is so long, the air in it is getting cold as is the air in the smoke house.... That condition makes a "cold dam"... a heavy plug of cold air....   Dips in the duct create "traps" like in a sink drain to block the air flow....

Solution #1...   Heat the smoke house to above ambient by a few degrees... that will make the air lighter in the smoke house and start a natural draft... (smokehouse and ducting need to be air tight...)

#2....   Larger diameter duct from the Firebox to the smoke house... to improve air flow...

#3... The smoke house will always need to be heated above ambient to eliminate the possibility of condensate on the food and acrid, bitter tasting creosote...

#4... Try the AMNPS or AMNTS to produce your smoke...   It goes inside the smoke house... no ducting, no problems.. and heat the smoke house above ambient...

mr t 59874 · Mar 16, 2016

Your piping needs to be on an incline from the firepit to the smokehouse. You can raise the inlet to the house or better, bury your piping which would help cool the smoke and cause more condensation of impurities, but it will still have to be on an incline. Some do put smoke generators into their smoke houses or smokers when cold smoking with good results, I do not as explained here. AMNPS & Smoke Daddy Myths?

The heavy air will make it more difficult to get a draft started as Dave explained. It is all preference and learning how to use smoke to your benefit.

T

dave17a · Mar 16, 2016

DaveOmak said:
Very nice smoke house...

....

Warm air weighs less than cold air.....   Your duct is so long, the air in it is getting cold as is the air in the smoke house.... That condition makes a "cold dam"... a heavy plug of cold air....   Dips in the duct create "traps" like in a sink drain to block the air flow....

Solution #1...   Heat the smoke house to above ambient by a few degrees... that will make the air lighter in the smoke house and start a natural draft... (smokehouse and ducting need to be air tight...)

#2....   Larger diameter duct from the Firebox to the smoke house... to improve air flow...

#3... The smoke house will always need to be heated above ambient to eliminate the possibility of condensate on the food and acrid, bitter tasting creosote...

#4... Try the AMNPS or AMNTS to produce your smoke...   It goes inside the smoke house... no ducting, no problems.. and heat the smoke house above ambient...

Dave. Done with pellets, posted in another post. You most likely read it. Going to eliminate dips. Bury piping, after lowering firebox. Dip in coupler hopefully and have seen lets moisture leak out. You are very informitive. Got new garlic going? Since froze out last year. Thanks

Mr T 59874 said:
Your piping needs to be on an incline from the firepit to the smokehouse. You can raise the inlet to the house or better, bury your piping which would help cool the smoke and cause more condensation of impurities, but it will still have to be on an incline. Some do put smoke generators into their smoke houses or smokers when cold smoking with good results, I do not as explained here. AMNPS & Smoke Daddy Myths?

The heavy air will make it more difficult to get a draft started as Dave explained. It is all preference and learning how to use smoke to your benefit.

T

Yes Sir. Learning experience. Thanks.

dave17a · Apr 11, 2016

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dave17a
Apr 11, 2016

Dave and Mr .T Added this last Saturday. Smoked just rolled out. Sunday air was heavy and nothing. Open door and smoke just layed below opening of door. Moisture the night before I believe had things awful wet. Slabs on racks, qmats from Tod were damn near stopped up with moisture. Dabbed moisture up a tad. Pulled a piece off squaring up belly a hair, coulda been a meal with a salad and tater. It was fine, worried bout smoke being wet and laying on meat. It was good and slightly hot. Forgot to say, all course ground black pepper, heavy. Think moisture laying on meat distributed pepper. Very tasty to me. anywho, Gonna shorten this up as you suggested Dave and do away the OK Joe little cooker, it burns hot! Dig a hole, line with blocks and pipe to and underneath smoker.

daveomak · Apr 11, 2016

Eliminate the stack..... let the smoke roll out the hole in the wall..... the smokehouse may need to be preheated to get the draft going....

mr t 59874 · Apr 11, 2016

Keep in mind that heat rises. As long as the smoke house is warmer than the smoke being introduced, it will rise. Learn how to control it and you will be on a roll. Wait until you get the smoke under control and flowing the way you want before introducing your product to the house, you will then eliminate a great amount of problems.

T

dave17a · Apr 12, 2016

DaveOmak said:
Eliminate the stack..... let the smoke roll out the hole in the wall..... the smokehouse may need to be preheated to get the draft going....

Mr T 59874 said:
Keep in mind that heat rises. As long as the smoke house is warmer than the smoke being introduced, it will rise. Learn how to control it and you will be on a roll. Wait until you get the smoke under control and flowing the way you want before introducing your product to the house, you will then eliminate a great amount of problems.

T

This is going to be hit and miss. How could you make smoke house stay warmer when you are cold smoking? getting rid of Oklahoma Joe is old pipe one. Have not a use anymore.

dave17a · Apr 12, 2016

Dangit Dave. Forgot to say The reason I put stack is because of backdraft. north wind blows because back is facing west, it does the backdraft. what about an elbow facing one way or other right out of hole? Gonna change things up since doing stritcly wood from now on. Thanks

mr t 59874 · Apr 12, 2016

dave17a said:
This is going to be hit and miss. How could you make smoke house stay warmer when you are cold smoking? getting rid of Oklahoma Joe is old pipe one. Have not a use anymore.

By warming the smokehouse with whatever means, a draft will begin to flow. The smoke produced from your smoke generator will be warm then cooled on its way to the smokehouse. The air inside the smokehouse should not become cooler than the smoke entering it, thus airflow. If however it does, you will notice that smoke will lay low in the smokehouse until there is a temperature difference creating airflow. If this cannot be accomplished by adjusting the vents on the firebox, a fan may be needed to either push or pull the smoke through the smokehouse. This is what you can run into with efficient cold smokers, as the temperature differences between the smoke entering the smokehouse and the smokehouse temperature itself can be very close.

T

dave17a · Apr 13, 2016

Thought about and have read to pull the air. same with water from a well. You can pull it but you can't push it. Just thought this could be a natural deal. Need to learn more. Thanks to you and Dave. Like I said gonna dig a hole and line it. Pipe below ground into smokehouse. Got all summer. Probably buid a bigger smokehouse on blocks or some sort. Thinking this will be my retirement job, plus like to move dirt. Anywho want to get this right. You guys are the best. Hey! Been painting over 30 yrs. high end. Mission hills Ks. Ferrel gas Sprint Owner from Japan even has a home we are doing. All Sprint high ups are there. Wonder why your bill is so high? This crap is unreal.

mr t 59874 · Apr 13, 2016

dave17a said:
Thought about and have read to pull the air. same with water from a well. You can pull it but you can't push it.

Oh my, Iv'e been doing it wrong all these years.

Oh well.

Just joking. One reason I like to blow rather than suck is, I have better control applying oxygen to the tray type smoke generator.

You will like the buried pipe, just be sure there is a gentle and straight incline to the smokehouse. I used clay tile for my buried run.

T

dave17a · Apr 14, 2016

Yes I plan on using clay. As you can see inline up to smokehouse. Do away with ok joe pipe grill. Gonna make foundation and build from there on new house.

New old cold smoker and draft issues

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