My smokehouse build and some Questions form Australia!

  • Some of the links on this forum allow SMF, at no cost to you, to earn a small commission when you click through and make a purchase. Let me know if you have any questions about this.
SMF is reader-supported. When you buy through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.
I have my own way of doing things & I smoke a bit hotter than some of our American friends on some things.
My bacon is a variation of Bearcarvers method which is a bit hotter .Same for ham hocks,beef tongue. But I am very much a feel & eyeball guy.
I do fish hot smoked at 80 to 90, but I also cook roasts in mine at 135c.
Airflow from under & airflow upper are important so you can set & forget knowing your pellets won't go out. Microwave your pellets for a minute helps.
I have found pecan & apple pellets work well.
I don't do electrics but can build brick pizza ovens,well 1 at least.
Can you adapt some shelves from an old fridge or oven?You can just hang stuff from spacer bars until you sort it.
I started doing pork bones bought cheap in Chinatown,played around with my brines.
They are great in soups big margins for error ,boiling them anyway. Get it right & you wil never buy those strange coloured ones in the super market again.
Hey Moikel I want yer recipe for Beef Tongue I can find one I like and Grandma took her recipe with her. 
drool.gif
 
 
Last edited:
I'm having no end of trouble keeping my smoke going. 

Just to update this is what I have done 

1. I have removed the metal plate that the amznps was sitting on (on the shelf) and replaced it with a very wide open mesh one. That should have increaed airflow to under the pellet tray. 

2. I haave moved the Pellet tray shelf a few cm's higher so it is on the same level as the vent holes on the side. I know you told me to move the shel down lower, but I thought If it was on the same height as the vent holes, the draft would hit the smoker directly. If i move it down too low, then the vent hole would be above the pellet tray. Which I belive is bad right?. 

I'm not sure how to solve this becuase if I move the shelf down too low, it will be right above my heat source, is that going to be a problem? 

I am thinking I should move the shelf down as low to the heatsource/grill as possible, without touching it, and then put some new vents directly below the shelf to create the draft. 

I'm also not sure if my vent holes are big enough. 

I'm really at a loss here and apart from adding a small cpu fan to to the air inlet, i dont know what else to do. 

any help would be appreciated. 

cheers
 
Sam, morning..... I just reread the thread..... what is the elevation at your place..... at 5,000 ft. /1500 M there may not be enough oxygen for the smoker to work....
 
Oh I thought you were joking about that !

I'm not high up. My elevation is about 30meters above sea level. 
 
I am currently testing this. It may be the way I pack it....

Stay posted, results to follow. 
 
ok. it was burning for a good 10 mins out in the open then went out. hmm. 

I microwave teh pellets but only for a minute I decided to crank it to 4 mins. 

they came out of the  microwave smoking so they were dry. put them in the smoker. 

its been smoking for the past 45 mins or so. and its just under halfway through the first row. looksl ike the row will last 2.5 hours or so. 

excellent!!! 
 
oh and i packed them in really realy tight and full. before wasnt that tight and full. 
 
Excellent..... Headway...... I usually dry my pellets for several hours at 275 F..... in an oven..... or in the smoker, in the AMNPS, at 275 for several hours... during pre-heat/sanitizing process.... Some folks say they have "no problem" with the pellets absorbing moisture from humidity..... Well I do.... Dry pellets burn/smolder so much better and give and uninterrupted smoke and no problems......

By the way, pellets can catch fire in a microwave, if it is a powerful microwave..... that's why I use an oven....


Dave
 
Last edited:
thanks heaps! 

really appreciate all teh help. its still smoking really well so I think we're home free. 

i'll watch out for the microwave! 
 
SmokingMeatForums.com is reader supported and as an Amazon Associate, we may earn commissions from qualifying purchases.

Latest posts

Hot Threads

Clicky