# Dry Ice For Cold Smoke



## cosmicmiami (Feb 17, 2014)

I live in SoFla.  Dry ice is available in several places as people routinely ship fish and dry ice is the choice.

Has anybody tried using dry ice for a cold smoke?


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## java (Feb 17, 2014)

I would think it would work, depending on the smoker.

Since dry ice is frozen CO2 I would think it would suffocate the smoke

if there is not enough oxygen available to keep your smoke burning.

A fairly airtight smoker would not work.

Just my humble opinion

Ed


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## cosmicmiami (Feb 17, 2014)

Good point on the suffocation but I don't think even the best smokers are that airtight with the vent open.  It takes a lot of CO2 to suffocate even a small fire.  I'm not sure the dry ice would sublimate rapidly enough to suffocate the pellets.  I'll try and report back.


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## denappy (Feb 17, 2014)

Seems like a good idea, I may have to try it in the summer!  Let us know how it works out!

-=Denappy


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## knuckle47 (Feb 18, 2014)

Looking forward to reading more about your experiment. Enjoying smoking the cheeses and eating them.  Now that spring might actually be approaching we have two choices.  Keep smoking til it warms up and  your dry ice idea !

Post back please.

Ps.... Lived behind Dadeland many yrs back


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## java (Feb 18, 2014)

Looking forward to your report.

We were messing around at work today, and wonder if the dry ice could cause a 

reverse draft type situation in a smoker? kind of like the way dry ice in a bowl "smokes"

just over the top, then down to the ground? If the current from the dry ice(down) is greater than the 

current up (pellet smoker) would that create reverse flow?

OK time to leave work at work and have a beer!


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## dcarch (Feb 18, 2014)

Dry ice is what is in some fire extinguishers.

Dry ice may be cold, but it can't take away a lot of heat. It  can only absorb 250 BTU per pound going from solid to vapor.

dcarch


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## alblancher (Feb 19, 2014)

How warm is it?  In S. Louisiana I normally cold smoke from late fall to late spring.  When the days get warm I smoke over night or when it's raining. 

If you pipe in your smoke from a remote fire you don't have to worry about the fire going out because of CO2 buildup or adding heat to the smoke chamber for that matter.     

May want to try some other options before spending money on dry ice.  If you do need to cool down the chamber why not use regular water ice?  Keep it in a tub so you don't make a mess  I can't imagine you getting too much water vapor from the melting ice if you keep your temps in cold smoke range


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## canadianbacon (Feb 19, 2014)

Be careful carbon dioxide floats down so eventually your smoker will be full of it.... You don't wanna put your head into a big gust of gas that will make it hard to breath. I would imagine because it floats down it will kill your fire or make your wood burn quick too.


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## mesamike (Jul 16, 2014)

I cold smoked some summer sausage yesterday down here in Aridzona with an OAT of about 105°.  Generated the smoke in my Smokey Joe and ran it thru a dryer vent tube to my 22" WSM.  Had 4 gallons of ice on top of the unlit charcoal in the WSM, but even with the ice I couldn't keep temp below 100°.  After about a half hour I just took the lid off and was able to keep the WSM at about 90° for about 4 hours.  I wanted it under 80°, but that is not possible in the summer in Aridzona.  Maybe I'll try dry ice the next time.


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## mesamike (Jul 16, 2014)

Actually I think Carbon Dioxide floats up and Carbon Monoxide sinks.  That is why your CO detector is near the floor.  Carbon dioxide is one of the "greenhouse" gasses that some people claim causes global warming by floating up into the atmosphere and trapping the heat next to the earth.  In reality, my Brinkmann Cimarron causes a lot more global warming than carbon dioxide ever could.


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## mesamike (Jul 16, 2014)

Canadianbacon said:


> Be careful carbon dioxide floats down so eventually your smoker will be full of it.... You don't wanna put your head into a big gust of gas that will make it hard to breath. I would imagine because it floats down it will kill your fire or make your wood burn quick too.


Actually I think Carbon Dioxide floats up and Carbon Monoxide sinks.  That is why your CO detector is near the floor.  Carbon dioxide is one of the "greenhouse" gasses that some people claim causes global warming by floating up into the atmosphere and trapping the heat next to the earth.  In reality, my Brinkmann Cimarron causes a lot more global warming than carbon dioxide ever could.


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## daveomak (Jul 16, 2014)

Canadianbacon said:


> Be careful carbon dioxide floats down so eventually your smoker will be full of it.... You don't wanna put your head into a big gust of gas that will make it hard to breath. I would imagine because it floats down it will kill your fire or make your wood burn quick too.




You are correct.....  CO2, from dry ice....  is so darn cold and WAY,WAY heavier than air, it sinks.....   It even sinks at regular temps.....   that is why it smothers fires when used as a fire suppressant.....

And your chips won't smoke......

And co2 hugs the earth because that is what make plants grow....    It's plant food.......


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