# Custom Smoke Chamber for AMNPS



## void425 (Apr 4, 2015)

I recently finished my very first cure and smoke I ever did.  I used an offset smoker to make some BBB.

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/182903/lightbox/post/1335244/id/380896

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...oston-butt-bacon-bbb-for-void425#post_1343124

I decided to buy myself the AMNPS to smoke my meat because it appears to be a bit more consistent without requiring so much attention.

https://www.amazenproducts.com/ProductDetails.asp?ProductCode=AMNPS5X8

I can put the AMNPS in the firebox of my offset smoker, but I am looking for something even better.  My offset smoker is too small for the amount of meat I would like to smoke at one time.  I want to maximize the amount of product I can smoke with my AMNPS by only lighting 1 End for the longest burn.

I am looking for any information I can get on building custom smoke chambers that were designed around using an AMNPS.  I am interested in both ends of the spectrum.  Anything pictures or designs ranging from a Cheap Cardboard Box all the way up to an Expensive Elaborate Smoking Chamber would be appreciated.

If you have designed your own smoking chamber around the AMNPS, can you please please post a picture and list the Pros/Cons of your specific setup so I may start develop my own ideas on how to design mine.  Thank You.


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## pawpaw16 (May 31, 2015)

What I have done is to use a PC Tower, with all internal parts removed. Built a metal shelf above the AMNPS leaving an opening at the back. The shelf does not go all the way back. At this point, used one the 12VDC fan from computer and mounted it so as to pull the smoke from the AMNPS up to the is shelf area. The shelf area has one to two frozen water jugs, made from empty Orange juice or gallon tea jugs. The fan forces the smoke around the frozen water and up into a 2-1/2 inch PVC pipe. From the PVC pipe it then up and into the bottom of an old 3.2 cubic inch mini fridge that the compressor no longer worked. (made a hole in the bottom of the fridge for the PVC pipe to enter.)

Mounted the 2nd 12VDC fan on top the opening. This fan will draw the smoke from the PVC pipe into the fridge.

On the back side of the fridge where the compressor normally would be, I remove it and all cooling coils, wiring and thermostat controls. In its place is a 12VDC battery (I used a deer feeder battery), Solar Panel, 110VAC to 12VDC converter, and the wiring for each fan.  Here is my thoughts on these three setups:

1. Use Solar panel when sun is out to operate the fan/s.

2. Use 12VDC battery when sun is not out to operate the fan/s.

3. Use 110VAC converter when the sun is not out and the battery is dead to operate the fan/s.

The fridge is mounted on an old bbq stand and the pc tower is mounted to the legs of the bbq stand.

After all of this, ran a test on the fan in the pc tower, it worked, then a test on the fan inside the fridge and it worked as well. Then tried both fans, a lot of smoke. Made a final test with no fans, there was more than enough smoke to do Cold Smoking - a thin blue line of smoke came from the exhaust tube on top of fridge. Now I don't have to rely on any power source, can you believe it?????

Just a note: from all of the test the smoke was definitely *cold smoke*.

Here are some pictures:













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## homer oz (Jun 7, 2015)

G'Day all,

Nice set up but far to many plastic components, for my liking!

Doh!

Homer


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## pawpaw16 (Jun 7, 2015)

Homer Oz said:


> G'Day all,
> 
> Nice set up but far to many plastic components, for my liking!
> 
> ...


Homer,

The point you make is a very valid point if one is Hot Smoking and I would never use plastic in a Hot Smoker and I thank you for your comments. Everyone should be aware about using Plastic, wood types of wood for inside liners, aluminum, paints, sealing compounds and even the wood used to get the Smoke from. Heck, I was the other day a man was using used railroad ties for smoking his meats, now how dangerous is that, VERY Dangerous.  But as was told, he has, and still is, being do this years now. Glad I don't eat any of smoking products. That has just got to taste weird, you know what I mean? Wow!

However, I am not using a hot plate to smoke. The inside temps rarely ever get over 80F even here in Texas. Please understand, all I am doing is simply adding the flavor of the smoke to whatever I am Cold Smoking. Maybe someday, that is if we don't have anymore creek risings above the flood levels, I can build a Hot Smoker, but right now I am just not interested in Hot Smoking. Please don't take my comments wrong toward you or anyone else reading this.

I am currently converting a kegerator, that really gets below 32F, into a Cold Smoker, The AMNPS will be sitting on top of the kegerator, but inside a metal box, then I'll be using an small aquarium air pump to draw the smoke up from the metal box. The air pump will then push the smoke in the a tube to the kegerator, from there the smoke will go down into the bottom of kegerator. Now this is really Cold Smoking and no more need for frozen water jugs.  see attached drawing.

Thanks again for pointing out a potentially dangerous situation that could happen if one is not well aware of the heat temperatures and the properties of the transport method used flow the heated smoke within.













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__ pawpaw16
__ Jun 7, 2015


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## ahas284 (Jun 10, 2015)

Y'all scuse my ignorance here, but I'm new and I think I want to learn as much as I can about cold smoking, although I think I know its purpose. But being new here and new to cold smoking, I've smoked a lot in a regular smoke house, some of your acronyms throw me. What is AMNPS? and another one BBB? I see the AMNPS in the drawing here, and maybe it's some kind of smoke generator. But I'm just not sure being new here.


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## pawpaw16 (Jun 10, 2015)

ahas284 said:


> Y'all scuse my ignorance here, but I'm new and I think I want to learn as much as I can about cold smoking, although I think I know its purpose. But being new here and new to cold smoking, I've smoked a lot in a regular smoke house, some of your acronyms throw me. What is AMNPS? and another one BBB? I see the AMNPS in the drawing here, and maybe it's some kind of smoke generator. But I'm just not sure being new here.


Well, *AMNPS* stands for A-maze-N-Pellet Smoker, sometimes one may see *AMNS* abbreviation, see picture of various AMNP smokers













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__ pawpaw16
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.  The AMNPS is a light weight, durable and portable smoke generator, that produces a great quality smoke for cold and hot smoking and be used in just about any smoker or a grill. It uses wood pellets to burn and produce smoke once the flame is out. The wood pellets come in a variety of wood and spice flavors. Here is a sampling from thier web site:

* Alder

* Apple
* Beech
* Black Walnut
* Charcoal
* Cherry
* Cherry Wine
* Chili Pepper Spice
* Corn Cob
* Garlic Spice
* Hickory
* Italian Spice-Rosemary,Thyme,Basil
* Jack Daniel's [emoji]169[/emoji]
* Maple
* Mesquite
* Mulberry
* Oak
* Orange
* Peach
* Pecan
* Pitmaster's Choice-Hickory/Cherry/Maple
* Plum Apple
* Red Wine Apple
* Sassafras
* Savory Herb
* Sugar Maple
* Sweet Grapevine
* Sweet Rosemary Garlic
* Sweetwood Blend (Apricot/Peach)
* Wine Barrel

The *BBB* stands (Buckboard Bacon), is made from a pork butt instead of belly. It tastes kind of like a mix of bacon and a light ham flavor. See this link it will help you out a lot:

http://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t/...e-kicked-the-amnps-into-overdrive-with-q-view


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## ahas284 (Jun 11, 2015)

Thank for the explanation. Man, that smoke generator looks cool, maybe literally, but the  looks can be deceiving, Might be hotter than  it looks, hahaha! Buck Board Bacon looks to be something akin to the Canadian variety. Well, I came here to learn and that looks to be exactly what is happening. 

Now, one more thing. I used to buy sausage before I started making my own. I would go to Shiner Texas to the Maeker sausage company and buy their excellent smoked sausage. Back then in the 80s things were still pretty simple. He had a walk in cooler about 12'x10' or so with stainless walls and tables and all the equipment. They would hang sausage from stainless rods, actually I think it was probably stainless 1/2" Tubing. Then they would light a small fire and a 2 gallon bucket with smoking wood. They said they set the temperature thermostat in the room at 40 F and closed it all up and let it smoke for about 10-12 hours. That had to be what you're calling cold smoking.

Now, when I began making sausage in the early 80s I would do it in winter on cold nights. I had a smoke house in my back yard with a 55 gallon drum to burn the wood in, and an 8 inch  dia. pipe from there into the bottom of my 4'x4' x 5 foot high plywood smoke house that was off the ground about 3 feet on 2x4 legs.I could actually get about 100 pounds of sausage hung in there. I would build a fire with Live Oak in the drum and add mesquite to it. Then I placed a 2'x2' steel plate over the top of drum as a lid to force the smoke through the pipe into the smoke house. I would set this up and start smoking about 9 or so at night and then about 10 AM I'd go out and get the sausage down off the tubing racks and wrap and freeze it.

From what I gather this is cold smoking where you have the meat in a cold environment and a way of generating smoke. Burning my wood in a separate barrel linked to the smoke house with an 8" pipe didn't subject the sausage to high temperatures. The smoke was cooled somewhat in the pipe which was at least 7 feet long and it was cool when it went into the smoke house. Am I correct? would y'all call this cold smoking? Or do you keep things colder than that? And is this what you are doing with your cold smoking houses?

The sausage I smoked in this smoke house was not cooked, only flavored with smoke.


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## ahas284 (Jun 11, 2015)

One more thing I want to say and this is sort of like a disclaimer. I probably come off as a big mouth and know it all. Well I may be a big mouth because I'm not afraid to ask a question, but What all I'm telling you about what I've done is only my way of asking if what I'm doing is correct? I know my sausage and barbecue has never killed anybody that I know of, but if there's a better or more professional way of doing things, I want to learn now. I'm getting older and have more time for perfection and I want to make sausage as well as I can. I want to get back into Briskets again and I want them almost falling apart tender and thoroughly juicy and flavorful. And since I came here to learn and enjoy this great American Pass time of outdoor cooking and smoking, I'm going to tell you more experienced experts everything I do and I want to know how you do it. So forgive me for my case of jabber in my first week here.

Thanks


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