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Hoggy's Cold Smoke Generator.
Hello all, With these few pages I share with you my efforts to make a cold smoke generator to be used outside the smoker. There are a lot of people with a self-make CSG, this is only ANOTHER ONE more. I will also show you in short the transformation from the old smoker with a stove as heat source into the version with the CSG. Thi |
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First Prototype On the left you see my first prototype. The big can is a stainlessteel utensil holder that was bought at Canadian Tire here in Canada, but Lowes or The Home Depot or Walmart will all have something like this. 10.00 $ I made a small hole in the bottom for the hose of the airpump. Dimensions 5" x 6" high. The long part is a selfmade condenser, I will explain this on the next picture. When I did my first tests, I got brown condense water in my " smoke hose ", I didn't like it, so I made a small condenser, works perfectly. Later in my tests I found out that the size of the condenser is too small, I needed to empty it often, and attached to the Ssteel pot was a weak and fragike connection. Further on this page you will see the final version of the condenser. The TEE in the upper part of the condenser is the part where the smoke comes out, a hose has to be connected there to go to your smoking chamber. On the bottom is a valve, when this one is opened, the condense water will fall out, at the same time it is a visual check to see if the generater is still producing smoke, without that you have to look in your smoking chamber. This check is very handy. I could use the condenser also as a water filter, to do so, you would need to fill the condenser with water until the inner pipe, but I am not sure if my pump gives enough pressure for that.
Evan :
The size of the connector pipe is probably bigger than required. The intake vent (wide open), connector and exhaust should all be about the same cross section. The flow rate is restricted by the narrowest point in the system. |
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I did not bother tThe first tests I did were straight in the SSteel can, but then I realized that if I did that, it would be hard to re-fill, it also made the can very dirty and sticky inside. I decided to use a clean paint can to put my wood in, and all together were placed in the SSteel can. I made 2 re-fill cans, so I could prepare the second one when the first one was almost finished. On the pictures below : LEFT : I drilled a few holes just below the top of the can, so I can put the lit on when it goes in the SSteel can, this will protect the cover on the SSteel can a bit against the heat, and the smoke can still escape. MIDDLE : I drilled holes in the bottom and I have glued some stove gasket on the bottom of the can. The hole for the air pump is under these holes, in this way I am sure that the small amount of air given by the pump will go through the can with the wood in it. RIGHT : This is the top view of the paint can. I have placed some SSteel mesh or steel wool on the bottom that works a bit like a filter for the ashes. On this mesh comes a lump of burning charcoal with my " stuff " on top. |
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Pump I use a small aquarium pump, bought at Walmart, 13.00 $ This is a low volume pump, but it really works great for the CSG. You can see a flow controller on the picture, but I am not really using it, it is completely open. Specifications : JetStream 1500 **1500 CC/min If you want to buy one, buy a bit bigger, most of the times there is a small flow controller supplied with it. |
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The fuel The goal was to use solid wood as fuel, but to smoke solid wood you need a lot of heat, for that I used a self made condensor.
Watch the test with lumps of wood Different configurations are possible, the configurations as shown here burn/smoke 6 - 8 hours, it will depend of your air pump. Using interchangeable cans is very usefull I find. You can prepare the next one in front of time, you could even use higher cans and try to increase the smoke time in that way. With using solid wood you need briquettes or lumps of charcoal all along the side of the wood, only in that way it will smoke all the time. Burning from the top is the most effective, but it will smoke a bit less in the beginning. If you smoke starting the heat at the bottom, the heat will stay at the bottom, because the burning charcoal gets smaller and the briquettes on top will go down. You will use only the bottom part of the wood in that case. |
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The Old smoker
Below you see the old smoker, this one had a stove on the side, smoked some perfecct briskets in it, but was too hard to control, I could not cold smoke in it and you always had to stay close to the smoker. There was a TEE connection that went UNDER the smoker and I had an EXIT valve on top. The smoker is a fridge from " the old days ". it had stainless steel inside, except for the door panel, that one I replace with a stainless steel plate that I still had from an other project. |
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Same smoker, re-built with Cold Smoke Generator attached .
| As you can see, the stove is gone, I have lowered the smoker 12" on the frame. Less weight and much easier to handle. Below is some explanation of what you see and what is done. |
I have replaced the old stove with a heating element, it is placed under an old cap of a chimney that I used already, it is good protected in this way. On the right side you see the smoke pipe come in. I have placed that one as close as possible towards the heating element, so the smoke will be taken by the hot air that goes up. |
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I used the thermostate from the old oven that I took the element off. I will replace this one later on for the following reason : These thermostates are not very accurate on low temperatures. When I set it on 125 F, it switches between 75F and 125F, this area is too big. If I set it at 230F, it switches between 210F and 230F, this is good. I have a digital thermostate that switches at -4F and +4F , so if I set it at 125F it switches between 121F and 129F. |
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I have added a cold smoke generator, which is connected to the condenser/cooler. I have the replaceable paint cans inside and a connection for the pump at the bottom, as described earlier. I bought at Dollorama a stainless steel drink tray for dogs, that I use as a cover, it fits perfectly and costs 1.00 $ CHEAP ALTERNATIVE : Try to use a can like they had in the old days for tea and coffee, it has a perfect cover. They are not easy to find, perhaps you have one or at a garage sales you still see them a lot. |
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I have added a condenser/cooler. I got a lot of dirty condense water during my tests and the temp. of the smoke straight out of the stainless stell can was 143 F. This condenser brings back the temp of the smoke to +0.5 F compared with outside the smoker. I have added a valve on the bottom, this is a very handy check to see if the CSG is still producing smoke, without tht you have to open the smoker. It also lets the condense water out. This is just an EMPTY aluminium duck pipe that you can buy at any DIY store, two caps and 2 nipples. CHEAP ALTERNATIVE : take two empty big cans with some tape, there is no heat on the surface, it will cost nothing. |
| Here you see the result at the back-end. The smoker is working and is connected to a duck pipe. Perfect ! |
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Cheap alternatives .
Below is the same setup as I used for my smoker, but now on LOW BUDGET. You can use soup or coffee cans, some tape and nipples and the airpump. There goes a hose into a water tray for the condense water. Be sure the hose is IN the water, otherwise the smoke will come out there. |
Below is a setup for cold smoking IN your smoker. You do not need an air pump, a copper tube that takes fresh air and you can adjust with the valve. A small soup can will smoke at least 2 hours, enough for cheese. Mind you, with opening the smoker extra air can come in and your small can can burst into flames with the excessive air ! But not as long as you keep your smoker closed ! |
Good luck !
