# smoke generator



## steve1966 (Jul 27, 2013)

Hey everyone, I was thinking about smoking some cheese and maybe some other stuff,so I built a cold smoke generator,and wanted to show it off and see what others think,I am not the greatest welder but it seems ok?













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## fwismoker (Jul 27, 2013)

Much better welding skills than I!    Looks great, you should be able to use chunks, chips, pellets and lump very easy in that.   What's it going to be hooked up to...a smoke house or grill?


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## steve1966 (Jul 27, 2013)

Thanks! I am hooking it to a grill.I have my fingers crossed, I haven't used it yet.


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## doctord1955 (Jul 27, 2013)

Is bottom open?  So u can light it? ash?


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## steve1966 (Jul 27, 2013)

I have a hole drilled in the bottom about 3/8 " for lighting, hope to just dump out the ashes. The hole is on the side bottom.Anyone else made their own? I would love to see it.


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## fwismoker (Jul 27, 2013)

Yea someone did just last week on here...it runs on an air compressor.

You'll want your air holes above where the ash will land or it'll choke off.


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## doctord1955 (Jul 27, 2013)

I have a false bottom in mine with a quarter sized hole covered with heavy duty hardware cloth!  Original bottom has a hole in it for air 1/4 drill bit.  bottom is held on by a pin pull pin take bottom off light put bottom back on will smoke for 6 hrs!


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## steve1966 (Jul 27, 2013)

FWIsmoker said:


> Yea someone did just last week on here...it runs on an air compressor.
> 
> You'll want your air holes above where the ash will land or it'll choke off.





doctord1955 said:


> I have a false bottom in mine with a quarter sized hole covered with heavy duty hardware cloth!  Original bottom has a hole in it for air 1/4 drill bit.  bottom is held on by a pin pull pin take bottom off light put bottom back on will smoke for 6 hrs!


Do either of you have any pictures?This is the first one I have ever used/made,mine has a bottom with nothing in it  but the one hole,should I go up higher from the bottom and drill more holes? Thanks for any tips.


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## doctord1955 (Jul 27, 2013)

I will get some pics taken on Monday for ya!  I run mine on a aquarium air pump.  Variable speed.  But when smoker is running right the heat rising thru my smoker pulls the smoke into smoker so don't have to run pump!  I can run sawdust and chips and chunks!  Going to try pellets!


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## steve1966 (Jul 28, 2013)

Thats neat! Is there a certain height I need to put it.I haw never seen sawdust for sale do you make your own?


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## doctord1955 (Jul 28, 2013)

You can get sawdust at almost any butcher supply house or vender!


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## mr t 59874 (Jul 28, 2013)

Good job on your generator.  If you can put some expanded metal a inch or two above the bottom it will provide good air across the bottom of the fuel and provide for ash.

Tom


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## steve1966 (Jul 28, 2013)

doctord1955 said:


> You can get sawdust at almost any butcher supply house or vender!





Mr T 59874 said:


> Good job on your generator.  If you can put some expanded metal a inch or two above the bottom it will provide good air across the bottom of the fuel and provide for ash.
> 
> Tom


Thanks *doc*! I will be on the lookout for some sawdust.

Thank you, *Mr T * I will get some expanded metal and try it I may have to cut it in half.


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## mr t 59874 (Jul 28, 2013)

> Originally Posted by *steve1966*
> Thank you, *Mr T * I will get some expanded metal and try it I may have to cut it in half.


Rather than cutting it in half.  Cut the expanded to near size, turn the edges up and press it in.

Tom


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## steve1966 (Jul 28, 2013)

Mr T 59874 said:


> Rather than cutting it in half.  Cut the expanded to near size, turn the edges up and press it in.
> 
> Tom


my pipe is blocking the way,but I have a different idea ,I will post picks when I am done.Thanks for the idea though.


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## steve1966 (Aug 1, 2013)

Ok! Finally here is my modified smoke generator will this work? Hopefully yes want to try it this weekend.













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## steve1966 (Aug 1, 2013)

oh, Doctord1955 If you are still following this I would really like to see your generator. thanks for all the tips everyone.


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## mr t 59874 (Aug 1, 2013)

That will work to hold your fuel in the chamber.  You will want to put a sliding plate of some sort on the bottom to control the air input otherwise your fuel will burn rapidly and hot.  You want it so you can open it to light your fuel with a torch then close it down to restrict your air input.  Hope I am clear.

Tom


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## doctord1955 (Aug 1, 2013)

Trying to figure out pics now


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## doctord1955 (Aug 1, 2013)

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## steve1966 (Aug 1, 2013)

I like how you have your airline routed around the inside ,It makes room for bigger chunks of wood! Looks like you have been useing yours awhile, nice and broke in.


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## dcarch (Aug 1, 2013)

This is my cold smoker. Blower driven.

It burns pellets and chips, uses very little fuel and can operate long hours without monitoring. (24 hours?).

Quality and quantity of smoke are highly adjustable.

There is a viewing port to observe the smoke condition before it enters the smoker. This is no need to open the smoker to check.

dcarch













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## mr t 59874 (Aug 1, 2013)

Quite the rig you have there dcarch,  may I assume a few sleepless nights on that one?

Tom


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## fwismoker (Aug 1, 2013)

Yep that's crazy!... In a good way!!  Lol


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## dcarch (Aug 1, 2013)

Yeah, kind of a crazy smoker. It is an indoor smoker, and it is also a working refrigerator smoker.

It therefore can cold smoke salmon, cheese, etc. in the hottest summer days, and it can smoke when it is snowy stormy outside in the winter.

The viewing port is illuminated to clearly see the condition of smoke.

The smoke goes thru a long brass pipe and cools down to room temperature. The centrifugal blower sends any condensation to the pipe walls by centripetal force and all the black stuff gets collected in an accumulator before iy gets into the smoker.

Temperature inside the smoker is controlled by a PID controller.

dcarch













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## fwismoker (Aug 1, 2013)

DC.. Yep the fridge smoker is a great idea.  That's been on my list of things to do.


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## mr t 59874 (Aug 2, 2013)

You have the right idea.  This type of smoke generator produces what I call a clean or smooth smoke.  I have a "cold" cold smoker also.  Works great on hot days.

Thanks for the post.

Tom


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## dirtsailor2003 (Aug 2, 2013)

Wow that's quite the rig dcarch! I expected t o see C3PO standing next to it!


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## doctord1955 (Aug 2, 2013)

What temp do you guys run your refrig when cold smoking?


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## mr t 59874 (Aug 2, 2013)

doctord1955 said:


> What temp do you guys run your refrig when cold smoking?


While I have several cold smokers, (*My Cold Smoking Options w/Q - View*) my "cold" cold smoker is a converted milk cooler. It stays ± 35°, using a Smoke Daddy for smoke, the smoker IT can be kept under 50°.  I'm certain any one of the three units above would do the same.

Tom


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## steve1966 (Aug 2, 2013)

Mr T 59874 said:


> That will work to hold your fuel in the chamber.  You will want to put a sliding plate of some sort on the bottom to control the air input otherwise your fuel will burn rapidly and hot.  You want it so you can open it to light your fuel with a torch then close it down to restrict your air input.  Hope I am clear.
> 
> Tom


Thank Tom,I didn't see this post yesterday, I will make one for it. Do you have any pics I can go by?


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## mr t 59874 (Aug 2, 2013)

steve1966 said:


> Thank Tom,I didn't see this post yesterday, I will make one for it. Do you have any pics I can go by?


Will PM you.

Tom


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## steve1966 (Aug 2, 2013)

Wow! I missed a lot of posts.That thing is sweet!


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## steve1966 (Aug 2, 2013)

dcarch said:


> This is my cold smoker. Blower driven.
> 
> It burns pellets and chips, uses very little fuel and can operate long hours without monitoring. (24 hours?).
> 
> ...


Thats way to compilcated for me.I like it! I bet it works great!


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## dcarch (Aug 2, 2013)

steve1966 said:


> Thats way to compilcated for me.I like it! I bet it works great!


Actually it's pretty easy. Many parts are from Home Depot plumbing department. Fabrication is like 1/100th of all the incredible welding cutting you see all the time here.

The end result is worth it. PID temperature control means no looking required at all the entire cooking time. Motor driven cold smoke generator means no tending smoke fire either. 

dcarch


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## dcarch (Aug 2, 2013)

doctord1955 said:


> What temp do you guys run your refrig when cold smoking?


I cold smoke cheese at 40F, salmon 50F, scallops 120F, lobsters 150F.

dcarch


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## seon (Aug 15, 2013)

I've been doing a lot of fishing lately and have smoked Salmon that came out delicious.

So I decided to try my hand on smoking cheese.

Made a one yesterday using 2” conduit, ½” conduit with connectors and two fence post caps. I burnt the inside of the conduit using a propane torch to remove any zinc coating. 

For the 1[sup]st[/sup] smoke with this generator I plan to cold smoke cheddar cheese in the Brinkmann smoker.  I’ll post pics and results afterwards.













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## steve1966 (Aug 22, 2013)

I like yor design,Seems to put out a lot of smoke .Do you have a aquarium pump hooked to it?


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## dcarch (Aug 22, 2013)

I have made a cold smoke generator also.

In my design, the air intake opening is adjustable and the smoke is driven by a variable speed small blower.

I have found that by adjusting the intake opening size and the blower speed, I can basically get any quality smoke I want, from heavy white smoke to very thin TBS.

Also, the quality of smoke is very consistent the entire smoking time. The fire seldom goes out. I have done overnight smoking many times with no problems.

dcarch


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