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Cold smoke generator ?'s

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nunantal

nunantal

Fire Starter
Original poster
Dec 30, 2014
64
48
Austin, TX
In my crude picture, is the distance between the two red lines critical?  Does it depend on the  size of the pellet/chip 

container?  If I use 1/2" copper tubing for the venturi and 1/4" for the  air supply and a 1 gallon paint can do you think

it will work.

venturi.jpg

venturi.jpg


Thanks,
 
What are you trying to build here?

I haven't seen many people go for the venturi setup.

The mailbox mod with an AMNPS seems to be the most popular cold smoker. 
 
I was going for the venturi type of smoker.  I already had a lot of the components lying around so I thought it would be cheaper overall for me to go that way. Most of what I've seen here and on youtube appears to show that they do work.  If that really isn't the case, then maybe I'll have to go another route.
 
What is the end use you are looking for? Do you want to hook it up to a smoker or are you going to be building a cold smoking chamber? I can tell you from experience that trying to make your own cold smoker/chip burner is not worth the effort. After messing around with mine I gave in and bought an AMNPS. I liked it so much I know of an AMNTS to go with it. 
 
I have built a smoke house for cold smoking dried sausage and plan on trying to use it for hot smoking as well.
 
In answer to your question...Yes it does..however it isn't critical. As long as you are past the vertical pipe coming from the burn chamber.

Personally...i agree that the Amazen tray or tube are the way to go. I built the CSG below...it worked fine, but had limited run time and the creosote build up was a pest! I'm using the Amazen Tube's now...they are awesome....long burn time, simple and all the flavors of pellets you could ever want. Plus Todd's service is second to none.

6d0a5055-cc92-4d5c-af32-02d5f8a78415_zps9b74d55d.j

6d0a5055-cc92-4d5c-af32-02d5f8a78415_zps9b74d55d.j


2e0a975b-eceb-4b4f-b6cc-e9b1c93be607_zps07c2687d.j

2e0a975b-eceb-4b4f-b6cc-e9b1c93be607_zps07c2687d.j

 
I have the Big Kahuna cold smoker from Smoke Daddy attached to my grill.  Uses lump charcoal for fuel and wood chunks/chips for smoke.  Lid comes off to add more fuel/wood.

Used it to smoke cheese and add supplemental smoke for ribs.  Worked great.

IMG_3465.jpeg

IMG_3465.jpeg

 
I found when i built mine using same principle that u could draw more smoke out of chamber by having shorter 1/4 pipe but i also went with 3/16 copper pipe also! Then i control amount of smoke by screwing pipe cap on end with different size holes!
 
Sorry for not getting back to this sooner.  Had to go out of town. What causes the smoke to enter the smoke house when using the mailbox mod? Does the mailbox have  to be open at the door end and have wind blowing or is there a suction fan in the smoke house?   I see that the 5 x 8 AMNPS is supposed to supply 11 hours of smoke.  How would that compare to a 1 gallon venturi CSG?
 
nunantal said:
 
Sorry for not getting back to this sooner.  Had to go out of town. What causes the smoke to enter the smoke house when using the mailbox mod? Does the mailbox have  to be open at the door end and have wind blowing or is there a suction fan in the smoke house?   I see that the 5 x 8 AMNPS is supposed to supply 11 hours of smoke.  How would that compare to a 1 gallon venturi CSG?
Click to expand...
Typically there is a hole, or holes in the lower portion of the mailbox door. Heat rises so if the mailbox is lower than the exhaust vent on your smoker, the smoke is drawn into the smoke chamber. My mailbox mod has one hole, I use the AMNTS tube smokers in mine.

13536594775_b7dc44fa02_k.jpg

13536594775_b7dc44fa02_k.jpg


13536704533_ff48318b02_k.jpg

13536704533_ff48318b02_k.jpg

 
The smoker needs a small amount of heat to start a convection current... the meat should be at ambient temp or it may cause a cold dam... then the smoke generator should continue the convection current... if not, periodically turn on some heat.... I recently put 3 slabs of bacon in my MES 30 and it was about 45 deg. F.... it caused a cold dam and I had to give the MES some heat to get the air flowing again.. I tried to keep the smoker about 75... ambient was 70....
 
Can the AMNPS be used inside a hot smoking chamber or does it have to have access to a greater amount of air flow than would be provided by vents in the smoke house?
 
nunantal said:
 
Can the AMNPS be used inside a hot smoking chamber or does it have to have access to a greater amount of air flow than would be provided by vents in the smoke house?
Click to expand...
It depends on the setup. The AMNPS with pellets is rated for hot smoking but does need a constant air flow to work. It seems to be used the most in electric smokers. In low oxygen environments (i.e. propane smokers or charcoal smokers) they recommend the tube smoker (AMNTS). 
 
I have found that Cabelas sells the AMNTS and there is one just down the road from me.  I'll be picking up one of those this weekend.  In the meantime, since I  already had the parts, I went ahead and built a venturi style.  I only ran it for about 15 or 20 minutes and WoW... the creosote really does accumulate.  I tried to compare the smoke generated in mine to some I saw on Youtube but wondered if you folks though it looked about right?  I picked up the bag of pellets at a local  Academy Sports and Outdoors.

Hickorya.jpg

Hickorya.jpg


Sm5a.jpg

Sm5a.jpg

 
That might not be too much smoke. It just depends on the size of the smoker and how well the smoke vents out of it. You should do a test run with no food in it and see what happens. 
 
i started with the venturie smoke set up BUT it creosotes up very fast and needs regular cleaning. went to the mail box mod and ran the AMNPS, and now i even have a couple of the tubes. welded 2 tubes together and they fit in the bottom of my smoker... great for overnight and longer smokes.
GOOD LUCK

Goliath
 
I agree with the A-Maze-N products. I have the 12" tube and rarely need it half full for my kettle and it stays at ambient temp (fall is perfect for cold smoked salmon). The larger A-Maze-N products and little fan or a Party-Q type product works great to move smoke in larger units. Simple!
 
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