So I got a free Maytag range off of Kijiji, cut a pan sized hole in the inner floor of the oven, creating a recess with part of the element exposed where the pan of sawdust smolders and does its magic, and punched out the oven light and put an aluminum dryer vent in the hole that was left by the missing light. (The whole story is in my introductory post.) It works well enough but I have a few concerns. First let me show you the stove with its modifications.
I ran 220 power to the greenhouse/shed where the stove lives and ran the insulated dryer vent out the top of the wall. I hung an OSB panel behind the vent to protect the polycarbonate greenhouse panel. Later on, I will install a countertop so my herbs will have a place to grow.
Here you can see the pan of maple dust smoking away on the oven floor. That's a bacon wrapped pork loin on the top rack and a pan of water on the rack below.
My concerns: the oven can be set as low as 195 degrees and from what I have read here, 225 is a good temperature, but the dust doesn't seem to want to burn at that temperature. I start hot, 375 or more and turn it down once the dust is smoking, then I put the meat in. This is good for the first hour or so but when I put fresh dust in the pan, it takes too long to start smoking again unless I increase the temperature. I don't think a single pan of smoke is quite enough to do the job. Are the temperature fluctuations apt to lessen the quality of the cooked meat?
I am thinking about some sort of system to create smoke that doesn't rely on the oven element. Either something like an amaze n smoker inside the oven, or a Venturi generator making smoke from the outside. The maze has the problem of having to open the oven to refill the dust and the outer smoke generator means having to drill through the oven wall. I'm lening toward the generator idea but I noticed while using a smoke pistol with my gas grill, that it created a generous amount of creosote along with the smoke. It was nasty stuff to clean up. Do these other smoke generators that work along the same principle create the same creosote build up? I suppose a tuna can under the smoke inlet pipe could catch the worst of the drips.
I'm open to suggestions from the collective "pit" wisdom.
My concerns: the oven can be set as low as 195 degrees and from what I have read here, 225 is a good temperature, but the dust doesn't seem to want to burn at that temperature. I start hot, 375 or more and turn it down once the dust is smoking, then I put the meat in. This is good for the first hour or so but when I put fresh dust in the pan, it takes too long to start smoking again unless I increase the temperature. I don't think a single pan of smoke is quite enough to do the job. Are the temperature fluctuations apt to lessen the quality of the cooked meat?
I am thinking about some sort of system to create smoke that doesn't rely on the oven element. Either something like an amaze n smoker inside the oven, or a Venturi generator making smoke from the outside. The maze has the problem of having to open the oven to refill the dust and the outer smoke generator means having to drill through the oven wall. I'm lening toward the generator idea but I noticed while using a smoke pistol with my gas grill, that it created a generous amount of creosote along with the smoke. It was nasty stuff to clean up. Do these other smoke generators that work along the same principle create the same creosote build up? I suppose a tuna can under the smoke inlet pipe could catch the worst of the drips.
I'm open to suggestions from the collective "pit" wisdom.
