Thin Blue Smoke----Kahuna ?

[shooterrick]

Good smoke see Flash. LOL

 

[hounds51]

Just got done smoking about 6lb of croaker on Saturday. Used Cure, Salt,Brown Sugar,Old Bay,Garlic powder for brine. Smoked with Hickory for about 8 hours. I used 2 (home made) smoke guns. And yes I had white smoke. White smoke aint all that bad if you can keep it moving. In Fact when they smoke Lebanon Belonga It is all white smoke!
There are different types of smoking. If you are using a small smoker, which many do here, then you want to either keep your smoke thin and blue (closed), or either white and movin (open). Either way you are altamatly going to be the judge of your finished product. If you like the way your food tastes, well then thats all that matters.

 

[nickelmore]

I'd like to see a pict of your setup, and how you made your smokeguns.


The one I made produces alot of smoke, seems to tast good, never have had a problem of creosote build up on the meat. But it is a challange in the pipes.

Home made smoke guns.....

 

[Bearcarver]

Thanks Hounds51, So if I'm getting a lot of heavy white smoke in my garbage can cold smoker, with my "Big Kahuna", I'll just crack the lid open enough to get it flowing more than normal.
Unless anyone disagrees, that will be my plan on how to deal with it.

Thanks all,
Bearcarver

 

[ol' smokey]

My answer to your smoke question.



Been using the large one for a couple of years now. What I've found to work for me is to have plenty of air flow. I keep the exhaust dampner wide open and adjust the intake dampner to control the smoke. I run the smoke generator with the air pump that was supplied. Also, because of moisture I only fill the unit about half full. This gives me enough smoke for around three hours. Keep trying until you have a handle on it.

 

[fiddler252]

Hi Group
This is Dennis AKA Porky Pa. I’m the guy that makes the Smoke Daddy. I’m happy to see that it is getting good reviews. It is true that when it is first started it will smoke heavily but after 10-15 min it will settle down. The thing that is nice about it is you can experiment with different combinations of wood chips, pellets, chunks or twigs to get the color and amount of smoke you prefer for your size of smoker.
Thanks Dennis

 

[Bearcarver]

Dennis,

Thank You for your comment. I would have rather heard you say the amount of smoke from the Big Kahuna doesn't matter. I already used it for salmon, and as long as I kept pushing the chips & pellets down with a screwdriver, the smoke was very thick. I figured if I didn't push the chips down, it would go out. If the guys who said I should not worry about the heavy smoke as long as I keep it moving are right, I'll just slide my "trash can lid open a little more, and keep on smoking. I'm starting 11 pounds of pork belly today, so we will see. I'm hoping they are right, because I doubt I'll hear from you before that.

Thanks,
Bearcarver

 

[nickelmore]

I think you will be fine, play with air adjustment. As a newbie, I was a little concerned with the amount of smoke as well, but my taste testers all seemed to be in agreement that it was good.

I had more consistant smoke if I layered the chips and pellets vs. mixing them together.

Good luck take some pictures!

 

[mballi3011]

I'm not a great user of the cold smoke unit but I see there quite a few of that could help you out.

 

[gnubee]

I have found that if you mix the pellets about 1/2 and 1/2 with larger wood chips you get a thinner bluer smoke. I also bleed off some of the extra smoke with a T fitting and a ball valve. I have the medium size and it puts out a lot of smoke, not as much as the kahuna but still a lot of smoke.

 

[kingudaroad]

I was also going to add that the size of the smoking fuel used makes a big difference. Wood chunks will be nice and thin and blue where as sawdust will be more billowy and white.

 

[got14u]

what I have done and I don't thin k it has been said yet is to use some lump coal in it as well as wood...I have used my big kahuana man y times and before i did this it billowed out white smoke also. now I crush up some royal oak and mix it with wood chips and it is perfect, I think about 1/4 of lump works good maybe just a tad more. give it a shot.

 

[thadius65]

One design flaw (at least with my Kahuna) is that after the first or second use, the air adjustment is non-functional. It pretty much seizes up due to heat at the bottom and/or creasote finding its way to the valve, or ?? Mine is all the way open all the time. i think moving that elsewhere in the air supply would be best.

Dennis?

Thanks,

Ted

 

[hounds51]

Think of these smoke guns as the old air tight wood burning stoves! Then design and build it. If you check some of my previous postings you will see mine. There really aint no mystery to them, just some common sense.

 

[gnubee]

I replaced the plastic valve that it came with. I got a brass one from an aquarium supply store $3.50. I also put it about 8 inches away from the smoke daddy. It now runs cool and has adjustment. I run it mostly wide open anyway but its nice to have the option.

I forgot about putting in the charcoal chips, I like them because you get a bit of a smoke ring from them as well as they aid in the burning.

I never even thought about layering the pellets and chips , I will have to try that.

 

[Bearcarver]

Thadius, You're right about the valve. This was only the second time I used my Big Kahuna, and no matter where I move the little lever, it's always full blast. I don't quite understand that. I guess I'll have to put one in line some where.
I struggled through 4 hours of cold & warm smoking yesterday (Too much smoke---open lid a ways----not enough smoke---poke it with a screwdriver, etc, etc, etc), then put my bacon in the Masterbuilt for another 5 hours, bringing the internal temp up to 126* (I wasn't really concerned about the internal). I brought the temp up real slow, not going above 150*. It's cooling in my extra fridge right now. I'll let you all know how good it is when I slice & really test it. I guess I'll be slicing today or tomorrow.
I took a good amount of pics too.

 

[thadius65]

I poke down through the middle of the Kahuna about once a half hour to keep it rolling nicely. THe last batch of Pork Tenderloins (brined over night, then air dryed with fan) had a smoke ring that went in over 1/4 " all the way around and the product tasted fantastic. Used hickory chunks in GOSM and hickory pellets in the Big Kuhuna.

Works like a champ!

 

[fiddler252]

Hi Group
This is the Smoke Daddy
Thanks for sharing your experiences with the Smoke Daddy. This helps me address any issues. I will look into the air valve and see if using a different one will work better. I’m thinking the small aquarium valve inline will work. I think that running it wide open works best. When I use mine I run it wide open and adjust the smoke output with different size wood chips or open the vents on the smoker. My main objective was to design a cold smoker that you could use with fuels of your choice. I’m always trying different combination's. I’ve been happy with all the positive comments and feedback's. Do a web search
for Smoke Daddy
Thanks Dennis

 

[nickelmore]

Fiddler, first off great product, I have recommended it to a number of folks.

I opted to use an adjustable air pump with dual outputs which i run into a valve bank. With this setup I can fine tune the air output and exhaust unused air.

The other thing I did was run a 3 inch 1/8 inch pipe nipple on the inside of the bottom to bring the air closer to the burn point. I may play with a cap with holes drilled in at angles to get a more complete even burn.

The best burns happen when I "layer" the chips and pellets. I am going to trim down a "chunk and surround it with pellets.

 

[Bearcarver]

Dennis,
Don't get me wrong, I love my SmokeDaddy Big Kahuna. I just got a little worried about the talk about creosote from a lot of white smoke. Maybe it doesn't count when talking about smoke from the SmokeDaddy, because I just smoked some Salmon with a lot of heavy white smoke from the Big Kahuna, and I didn't taste any creosote. I did however keep my lid opened about an inch. I'm just trying to make adjustments to cut the smoke down a bit without letting all the heat out. I'm going to try an inline "T", with an adjustable valve on the leg going to the SmokeDaddy, so I can reduce the amount of air flow to the Kahuna without creating back pressure to the aquarium pump. The extra air flow should go out the other leg of the "T". Don't know if that will work, but that's my plan.