# Zeolyte Filters???



## NahsteeDawg (Mar 23, 2018)

Anyone hear about these new filters that are used in auto exhaust pipes that are supposed to filter out cancer causing carcinogens? think this will be good for the smoking community?


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## tallbm (Mar 23, 2018)

Hi there and welcome!
Never heard of them.  Feel free to send me one and I'll put it in my mailbox mod elbow joint and test it out :)


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## SonnyE (Mar 23, 2018)

No.
Sounds like more intervention by somebody chasing a buck.
Like the guy who invented the Saw Stop, then tried to get *Congress* to pass a bill _requiring_ his invention be required on Table saws.
Stay out of my backyard.


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## chopsaw (Mar 23, 2018)

I'm gonna second the no .


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## johnmeyer (Mar 24, 2018)

I have no clue which components in smoke would be considered more unhealthy than others. Even if you could identify something in the smoke that was bad, I don't know how a filter could be selective and remove only that one component.

I am well aware of the risks of _inhaling _smoke (e.g., cigarettes), but have never seen anything about _eating _smoke. Most of what I've read about any possible (although IMHO unlikely) unhealthy aspects of what is discussed in these forums has to do with some of the products you get when cooking cured meat, and what you get when you get a nice char on a piece of meat.

However, there most definitely _are_ all sorts of things in smoke that can make your food _taste _bad, chief among them being creosote. Getting smoke that tastes good involves a lot of science, but even more art (i.e., skill). From what I've read (I am no expert), you want to provide plenty of oxygen to your smoking source, and you want to condense out the creosote. Unlike most other components in the smoke which I don't think can be selectively removed, creosote can be reduced through condensing the smoke on a cold surface. Some people use long runs of conduit between their smoke generator and the place where the food resides. I chose instead to use a filter.

So, since you asked about a filter, here is my cheap filter. It is simply a stainless steel scrubbing pad, and it works really well. I clean it between use:













61IES5EDv3L._AC_UL320_SR312,320_.jpg



__ johnmeyer
__ Feb 28, 2017






This is what it looks like after one two-hour smoke:













Filter%20After_zpsvbhnflav.jpg



__ johnmeyer
__ Apr 2, 2017






And this is what it looks like after it has been cleaned and is ready to be stuffed into the lid of my AMNPS "mailbox mod" (mine is a popcorn tin):












Before_zpstwkn26zm.jpg



__ johnmeyer
__ Apr 2, 2017






Actually, I insert it halfway between the smoke generator and the MES, the coldest place in the whole arrangement.


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## chopsaw (Mar 24, 2018)

John I liked your filter when I first saw. It . Just saying no to this because  if it scrubs exhaust I would think more is involved than just a ss mesh . Chemicals?  Fiberglass  ? Who knows .


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## johnmeyer (Mar 24, 2018)

I just realized that you are probably talking about Zeolite, not Zeolyte. If so, that is pretty common stuff. I used to use it decades ago when I was keeping tropical fish. It does a great job, among other things, of absorbing ammonia, which is created when fish waste breaks down. Ammonia is quite toxic to the fish and therefore has to be broken down artificially (in larger bodies of water there are natural things that break it down).

Once you spell it with an "i" instead of "y" you can Google it and determine if the things it absorbs are likely to be in BBQ smoke and, if so, whether they would be worth removing:

Zeolite Wikipedia Article


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## SonnyE (Mar 24, 2018)

johnmeyer said:


> I just realized that you are probably talking about Zeolite, not Zeolyte. If so, that is pretty common stuff. I used to use it decades ago when I was keeping tropical fish. It does a great job, among other things, of absorbing ammonia, which is created when fish waste breaks down. Ammonia is quite toxic to the fish and therefore has to be broken down artificially (in larger bodies of water there are natural things that break it down).
> 
> Once you spell it with an "i" instead of "y" you can Google it and determine if the things it absorbs are likely to be in BBQ smoke and, if so, whether they would be worth removing:
> 
> Zeolite Wikipedia Article



John,
This fish I smoke are way beyond making ammonia.
They just don't have the guts for it anymore.


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