# Smokedaddy fuel selection question from Norway



## kimhaak (Sep 21, 2012)

Hi folks

Hope I am posting in the correct forum.

I want to test a smokedaddy, but I do not know if it is usable for me, since I can not get pellets or wood chips in Norway. I can get some Weber chips, but for approx $14 for 1Kg.

Will the smokedaddy perform well with rice-grain sized chips? I can get either that, or plain sawdust, very fine grained.

What about creosote in the SD, is it sorted these days? I know old smoking setups used a stone built "chimney" between the fire and the smokehouse, and this chimney was supposed to contain a lot of rough edges and cliffs, wich the creosote would attach to, before it hit the smokehouse. Anyone tried this? I am using a aluminium flexible pipe (15") to achieve some of that effect.

Some history:

Earlier i tested a Bradley, but the price and availability of bisquettes and what i considered bad performance, made me sell it. Then i read about white vs blue smoke... 

I proxyed three Amazen smokers trough my uncle in the US, and tought everything would be fine, but i was disappointed. It was difficult to get it running, I even added a small fan to give it air. If I eventually got it running it would not produce the colour or taste i would like on the meats, it seems strange to me to have bacon without some of the yellow hue on the outside :P  It does however seem that the Amazen wants only fine fine grained dust, not rice grained or even a mix. 

In Norway the common woods are beech,alder and branches of juniper, or even some birch, but i have yet to find any in chunk sizes, except the expensive Weber... 

I have a refrigerator setup, nothing fancy. I prefer cold smoking bacon/sausage, so in summer the fridge is actually running, to keep the temp down. If sausages or other stuff require precooking i do this sous vide, to not loose any flavor. I do not yet have enough moisture to do a hot smoke without getting a hard outer on the meat...

Any ideas for the best approach? I can not tend it all the time, but after I almost burned down the back yard, I need something pretty safe :P  I was hoping the SD could provide that, and i can apply heat and moisture with other equipments.

Regards

--

Kim


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## diggingdogfarm (Sep 21, 2012)

Hello Kim!

Fine fuel won't work in the Smoke Daddy.

Can you order pellets from the UK?

The A-Maze-N smoker is a MUCH better option, a night and day difference.


Cheers, peace and bacon grease,
~Martin








*[COLOR=#black]Click here to check out the Universal Cure Calculator!!!!![/COLOR]*


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## kimhaak (Sep 21, 2012)

Thanks Martin, you just saved me $170 :P

I may get some from abroad, but freight adn taxes/customs is stupid expensive, and weight/volume is the main problem. I can try to find someone who delivers  to industry, and see if they can provide something.

I am not cheap, but in Norway everything is expensive and I need to buy and experiment with meat as well, and 1 kg (2.2 pounds) of pork belly is approx $20 :P It is all about keeping the wife happy, she does not like me buying expensive meats and if the smoke fails, it was a waste...

I will need to solve the Amazen issue, even tough it does not give the desired colour i would like.

--

Kim


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## daveomak (Sep 22, 2012)

Find a furniture shop or if you have a table saw, depending on the blade, cross cut or rip... you can make dust that will work in the AMNS....  Be sure to use hardwoods as woods like pine and spruce are not good to smoke food....   Dave


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## kimhaak (Sep 23, 2012)

Got the A-MAZE-N to smoke today, had to microwave my fine-grained sawdust first. As i have experienced with it before, it does not produce too much smoke and the product does not get the yellow/reddish hue that i would want, and maybe even my smokehouse is too big? I know it is smoke inside, even tough i cannot see it, but it just seems too little... :P

The smokehouse is these days a Coke fridge. About the normal size, not a double cabinet or anything. Could it be that i need to narrow down the volume inside it to make a "snug" fit for the smoker and the amount of meat?

I you do cold smoked bacon, for how long do you smoke it to get the correct colour/taste? I have been doing 10-12 hours before, but with more or less white smoke. Bacon turned out great tough, but the smoker setup needed to be watched carefully to not catch fire, or stop burning... 

--

Kim


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## diggingdogfarm (Sep 23, 2012)

You can light both ends of the A-Maze-N for more smoke.

I typically cold smoke my bacon for 16-24 hours (thin smoke) for the most smoke flavor and best color, two 8 hour days of smoke or three 8 hour days of smoke.
To get the best smoke adherence, the bacon must be dry to the touch and brought up to the ambient temperature of the smoker to avoid condensation.

HTH

Cheers, peace and bacon grease,
~Martin







*[COLOR=#black]Click here to check out the Universal Cure Calculator!!!!![/COLOR]*


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## kimhaak (Sep 23, 2012)

Thanks!

I have two smokers, probably would do both at the same time to get more smoke, and same time, and some considerably longer smokes, as you suggest.

My food adventures are split 50/50 by getting a nice end result and the mysterious "what actually happens inside?". From what i have read in some "scientific" books, regarding old school food preservation is that the peillicle forming is important because it is supposed to be moisture in the wood, so the smoke will adhere trough moisture to the meat. I see a lot of people disagree with this, but from what i can tell, that is the main purpose of the pellicle, since wet meat cannot absorb the smoked moisture.

Also, the "chimney" for the smoke to pass trough should be long, rough and full of edges, where all the creosote and stuff we dont want, can get caught before hitting the food. But then again, back in the day people burned their wood with an open flame, wich produced lot more bad stuff... 

Hopefully a couple fun facts from me :P

--

Kim


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