Cleaning up your act - clean smoke is delicious smoke!

[gavin16]

I have been doing some reading off and on through the forums on mailbox mods and cold smoking cheese.  I recently did some back last spring when it was still cold here, using my MES 40. To be honest, the only cheese I tried from it was the mozzarella sticks - which came off slightly gritty from ashes in AMNPS below.  Probably smoked around 50-60# of cheese on a few runs, vac sealed it, and gave most of it away to friends and family.  They did not try any of it until several weeks/months later, and WOW! I'm suddenly expected to bring smoked cheese with me everywhere I go.. so something must have worked! Haha! 

Now that I am seeing cooler nights here in northwest Kansas (I am sad.. I'm a very fair weather guy and love the heat over cold, as well as longer days..) I figure it's a good time to start planning ahead.  If I get a chance this week/weekend I look forward to improving my new smokes with this method.  Luckily I came across a mailbox free (those things are NOT cheap!) so I just need to get some dryer duct/tape, and some wholesaw bits. Hope to bring you guys some pics and updates on my version of this. 

Thank you very much in advance for the well documented information. :) 

 

[sigmo]

At least you'll find good use of the cold weather for your cheese (and other cold) smoking!

Around here, it gets cold enough that I need to have some heating even for cold smoking at times! You'll probably find that, too.

I may modify the temperature controller on my MES so I can set it to lower temperatures. The minimum setting on the stock controller is 100 degrees. Since I'm using a separate smoke generator, there's no need to use the OEM controller for me.

Tabbed in.

 

[clearprop]

Is this 20 feet of pipe only recommended for cold smoking? I'll do this mod to cold smoke, but should I always keep it hooked up even when hot smoking?

 

[mr t 59874]

Is this 20 feet of pipe only recommended for cold smoking? I'll do this mod to cold smoke, but should I always keep it hooked up even when hot smoking?

 Although a mod can quite successively be used when hot smoking, understand there is quite a difference between hot and cold smoking. Most all hot smokers are specifically designed to be used with smoking fuel inside the smoker itself. When cold smoking, other than used as a heatsink, the chamber that the product is in is nothing more than that. 

T

 

[gavin16]

Is this 20 feet of pipe only recommended for cold smoking? I'll do this mod to cold smoke, but should I always keep it hooked up even when hot smoking?

 I only have 5-6 feet of pipe on mine. I have actually found with my MES 40 gen 2.5 that I prefer keeping the smoke filtering from the mailbox - hot or cold smoke. Simply for the fact it keeps my smoker window cleaner for substantially longer.  The downside I have  found is that if the temperature outside is cold - I do lose some heat containment by using the mailbox mod.  

I'm actually still struggling to keep my AMAZEN tray consistently going in my mailbox.. still hit or miss.  I may try getting a tube when I order pellets soon. 

 

[lovethemeats]

Great info. Adding in more piping and your results you got makes me think of adding on to mine. Always willing to improve my results. Thanks for the really interesting read.
Rob

 

[agnesjaneen]

A property consumed by fire will not only suffer damage to its furnishings, structural integrity and any items held within in the short term before the blaze is extinguished, but there are also various time-sensitive dangers to be aware of in the aftermath.

All leftover traces of soot and smoke on the walls, floors, ceilings and contents of a room will continue to wreak havoc after a fire incident. Ash residue corrodes any surfaces it is in contact with over time – if this is not professionally cleaned quickly, furniture, walls and more will be left permanently discoloured and worn. Clothes and upholstered furniture will be unsalvageable and any wood finishes, paint etc. will need to be re-administered.

 

[clearprop]

 
 Although a mod can quite successively be used when hot smoking, understand there is quite a difference between hot and cold smoking. Most all hot smokers are specifically designed to be used with smoking fuel inside the smoker itself. When cold smoking, other than used as a heatsink, the chamber that the product is in is nothing more than that. 

T

I though that this thread shows that the purpose of this "coldsink" chamber and tubing is that it allows the creosote and other unfavorable suspended contaminates to condensate onto the surface area (of the chamber and pipes) before reaching the food.

I plan to weld a tube system up from 3" exhaust piping; however, I want to avoid wasting time and money. To avoid drafting problems as much as possible I am going to place the pipes horizontally at a slight incline from the chamber up to the smoker. What is the minimum length of piping I should use?  Or should I make 2 setup, one shorter length for hot one longer length cold? What lengths should I use in that case?

Cold Pipe.jpg

• clearprop
• Mar 6, 2017

 

[gr0uch0]

 

A property consumed by fire will not only suffer damage to its furnishings, structural integrity and any items held within in the short term before the blaze is extinguished, but there are also various time-sensitive dangers to be aware of in the aftermath.

All leftover traces of soot and smoke on the walls, floors, ceilings and contents of a room will continue to wreak havoc after a fire incident. Ash residue corrodes any surfaces it is in contact with over time – if this is not professionally cleaned quickly, furniture, walls and more will be left permanently discoloured and worn. Clothes and upholstered furniture will be unsalvageable and any wood finishes, paint etc. will need to be re-administered.

   Not understanding where this comes into the cold smoke thread...what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

 

[mr t 59874]

 

   Not understanding where this comes into the cold smoke thread...what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

I think he is suggesting that if you decide to use your dwelling as a smokehouse, you move you clothes and furniture outside first. 

 

[mr t 59874]

 
I though that this thread shows that the purpose of this "coldsink" chamber and tubing is that it allows the creosote and other unfavorable suspended contaminates to condensate onto the surface area (of the chamber and pipes) before reaching the food.

I plan to weld a tube system up from 3" exhaust piping; however, I want to avoid wasting time and money. To avoid drafting problems as much as possible I am going to place the pipes horizontally at a slight incline from the chamber up to the smoker. What is the minimum length of piping I should use?  Or should I make 2 setup, one shorter length for hot one longer length cold? What lengths should I use in that case?

Cold Pipe.jpg

• clearprop
• Mar 6, 2017

Thank you Clearprop for the drawing.

Your system will have two purposes, one to clean the smoke the other to cool it.

If you intend to cold smoke, the length of pipe from your firebox to the product chamber depends on the ability of your firebox to absorb the heat created by your smoke generator.  It is my opinion that an efficient cold smoker will allow the cooling of smoke to ambient temperature when it reaches the product.

If you are going to use it to hot smoke, a much shorter length of pipe can be used.

The temperature within the firebox will depend on the type of smoke generator, fuel used, and the amount of draft.

Start at the firebox and work your way to the product chamber, making changes as you go.

Have fun experimenting,

T

 

[gr0uch0]

 
I think he is suggesting that if you decide to use your dwelling as a smokehouse, you move you clothes and furniture outside first. 

And to think we share the roadways with these types of thought processes....

 

[chef jimmyj]

 

   Not understanding where this comes into the cold smoke thread...what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

Guess some folks like talking about smoking in all it's forms...

 
I think he is suggesting that if you decide to use your dwelling as a smokehouse, you move you clothes and furniture outside first. 

 Naaaa...There is a House Fire Support Forum that is replying..." WTF Dude!!? My freakin house burnt down and you are posting a Recipe for SMOKED GOUDA!!!!...JJ

 

[clearprop]

 

   Not understanding where this comes into the cold smoke thread...what does this have to do with the price of tea in China?

It inspires all of the off topic post so we can all learn from others about the tea in china.... driving on the road.. house fire support forums... and anything BUT smoking meat

 

[chef jimmyj]

It inspires all of the off topic post so we can all learn from others about the tea in china.... driving on the road.. house fire support forums... and anything BUT smoking meatThumbs Up

Mr. T gave a great answer to your post. We certainly can discuss your design further. Please excuse us indulging in a bit of levity at an unexpected post...JJ

 

[gr0uch0]

 
It inspires all of the off topic post so we can all learn from others about the tea in china.... driving on the road.. house fire support forums... and anything BUT smoking meat

Apologies if I caused your panties to get all bunched up, Clear.  I forgot that this forum was all about life and death--my bad.  

 

[johnmeyer]

Originally Posted by Mr T 59874  

If you are going to use it to hot smoke, a much shorter length of pipe can be used.

The temperature within the firebox will depend on the type of smoke generator, fuel used, and the amount of draft.

Start at the firebox and work your way to the product chamber, making changes as you go.

I suspect that the design variables are also going to be affected by how big and how hot your smoke generator gets. My standard 5x8 AMNPS with sawdust does not get very hot at all, and the piping is dead cold only a few feet away from my "smoke box." On the other hand, if you wanted to create smoke using a larger smoke generator containing more fuel, than I could see where you would have to scale up all the cooling components of the design.

I'm an engineer by training, and every new design involves a huge amount of trial and error. Mr. T's last sentence above is exactly right.

 

[clearprop]

 
I suspect that the design variables are also going to be affected by how big and how hot your smoke generator gets. My standard 5x8 AMNPS with sawdust does not get very hot at all, and the piping is dead cold only a few feet away from my "smoke box." On the other hand, if you wanted to create smoke using a larger smoke generator containing more fuel, than I could see where you would have to scale up all the cooling components of the design.

I'm an engineer by training, and every new design involves a huge amount of trial and error. Mr. T's last sentence above is exactly right.

Even after trial and error, the smoker itself is in an uncontrolled environment (outside temperature, humidity, draft, etc). Creosote accumulates on the surface of the pipes/chambers. The longer the pipe, the more surface area, the more "filtering"/accumulation will occur, but then again, the faster the draft, the less time it has in contact with the surface area, the less "filtering"/accumulation will occur.

I was hoping to find out what particular length of pipe works best overall since welding up 20' of 3" 14 gauge exhaust coiling around on a constant incline is a tall order I would rather not do in the name of "experimenting." I think I'll just K.I.S.S. and use straight lengths that I can just swap out. 

 

[johnmeyer]

I've posted about my experience several times, but the short version is that, with my setup, I found that I got very little condensate on the second two foot duct section, and that it was perfectly cool to the touch. Therefore, if I were you, I'd start out with a really short length of duct and use that for a smoke. During the smoke, feel the duct at various points along its length and see if you can detect any heat anywhere. If it feels perfectly cool as you get closer to the smoker, then the smoke must also be cool by that point, and I doubt you'll be getting much condensation for the rest of the length.

Also, when the smoke is finished, take everything apart and look at the end of the pipe nearest the smoke generator and then the part furthest away. In my case, there was a gigantic difference between each end of my very short four-foot run. So that, coupled with not feeling any heat on the second section, made me cancel my original intent of adding ten feet of pipe.

 

[clearprop]

 
I've posted about my experience several times, but the short version is that, with my setup, I found that I got very little condensate on the second two foot duct section, and that it was perfectly cool to the touch. Therefore, if I were you, I'd start out with a really short length of duct and use that for a smoke. During the smoke, feel the duct at various points along its length and see if you can detect any heat anywhere. If it feels perfectly cool as you get closer to the smoker, then the smoke must also be cool by that point, and I doubt you'll be getting much condensation for the rest of the length.

Also, when the smoke is finished, take everything apart and look at the end of the pipe nearest the smoke generator and then the part furthest away. In my case, there was a gigantic difference between each end of my very short four-foot run. So that, coupled with not feeling any heat on the second section, made me cancel my original intent of adding ten feet of pipe.

Shortening from the Setesh's 21' down to 4' is a huge difference. Assuming you cold smoked, were you able to consume cheese/etc the day of smoking (like Setesh) or did you age it traditionally before tasting it?