Newby here, hoping to get some advice on a build-or-buy setup for smoking fish.
I mostly do hot smoked (100 - 170 F) whitefish and cold smoked salmon. I currently have a Sears gas vertical smoker which I have modified with a Smoke Daddy for cold smoke. I monitor a session using a Thermoworks Smoke 2-probe wireless gizmo, with one monitor in the smoking chamber and one punched into Al foil that I wrap around the Smoke Daddy exit pipe (this tells me when the Smoke Daddy needs refueling). The gas burner on the smoker is way too hot, so even choked down to the lowest flame that I can maintain on the often-windy fall smoking days, I am constantly babysitting the smoker, adding ice to the water tray, adding chips to the Smoke Daddy, etc. The cold smoking is even more challenging, since I want to keep the temp 70-90F and with cold ambient temps that requires a low heat source and the smoking chamber temps get out of control quickly.
All of this has made me reconsider a new build or buy "dream machine" for smoking fish, which is where I need some expert advice. A true smokehouse is not appropriate for my back yard. But I am willing to spend up to $800 on something(s) out of a box.
- It needs to do 10 hr cold smoking of salmon without raining soot drops from the top of the smoker cabinet onto the racks below. (I currently sacrifice the top of my 4 racks just to use as an umbrella!)
- It needs to be able to get up to 275F in case I want to do something with pork or beef.
- It needs to be something that I can get parts for down the road when things wear out.
- Ideally, it should be multistep "programmable" so I can dry whitefish without smoke for an hour or so at a low temp, then turn on the smoke for a set period of time, then ramp up the temps and turn off the smoke for finishing.
- It needs to be tall enough that I can do whole whitefish or large pieces of salmon that are hung vertically if I choose to. (Think sausage setup).
- It needs to have enough shelves to smoke larger batches of fish that do not currently fit on my 4-rack hot setup or 3-rack + umbrella cold setup.
- It needs to be able to be stored outdoors in Michigan (under appropriate covers) without damaging electrical components or rusting, or be able to fit on a wheeled cart in my garage without displacing too much stuff.
Now, here is what I am looking at, and hope to get your input:
1. Auber AW-1520H PID controller (WiFi) using cabinet & meat probes. I love the 6-step progamming and reproducibility of such an automated process.
2. Some sort of analog 40-inch or 6-rack smoker cabinet. I could use the Bradley Original BS815XLT if I could find one - no luck there. I like the Bradley because it could be easily paired with their cold smoke adapter and the biscuit dispenser would alleviate a lot of the time spent with monitoring and reloading fuel.
3. A Masterbuilt 40 is another possibility, but I would need a cold smoke attachment and theirs does not look much better than the Smoke Daddy in terms of load it and forget it, creosote production, etc.
Both options #2 and #3 above could be accomplished by purchasing Bradley or Masterbuilt digital models, but that would be such a waste when I am paying $250 for a WiFi Auber PID that will bypass their factory controllers anyway.
OK, that's my RFP. Fire away!
I mostly do hot smoked (100 - 170 F) whitefish and cold smoked salmon. I currently have a Sears gas vertical smoker which I have modified with a Smoke Daddy for cold smoke. I monitor a session using a Thermoworks Smoke 2-probe wireless gizmo, with one monitor in the smoking chamber and one punched into Al foil that I wrap around the Smoke Daddy exit pipe (this tells me when the Smoke Daddy needs refueling). The gas burner on the smoker is way too hot, so even choked down to the lowest flame that I can maintain on the often-windy fall smoking days, I am constantly babysitting the smoker, adding ice to the water tray, adding chips to the Smoke Daddy, etc. The cold smoking is even more challenging, since I want to keep the temp 70-90F and with cold ambient temps that requires a low heat source and the smoking chamber temps get out of control quickly.
All of this has made me reconsider a new build or buy "dream machine" for smoking fish, which is where I need some expert advice. A true smokehouse is not appropriate for my back yard. But I am willing to spend up to $800 on something(s) out of a box.
- It needs to do 10 hr cold smoking of salmon without raining soot drops from the top of the smoker cabinet onto the racks below. (I currently sacrifice the top of my 4 racks just to use as an umbrella!)
- It needs to be able to get up to 275F in case I want to do something with pork or beef.
- It needs to be something that I can get parts for down the road when things wear out.
- Ideally, it should be multistep "programmable" so I can dry whitefish without smoke for an hour or so at a low temp, then turn on the smoke for a set period of time, then ramp up the temps and turn off the smoke for finishing.
- It needs to be tall enough that I can do whole whitefish or large pieces of salmon that are hung vertically if I choose to. (Think sausage setup).
- It needs to have enough shelves to smoke larger batches of fish that do not currently fit on my 4-rack hot setup or 3-rack + umbrella cold setup.
- It needs to be able to be stored outdoors in Michigan (under appropriate covers) without damaging electrical components or rusting, or be able to fit on a wheeled cart in my garage without displacing too much stuff.
Now, here is what I am looking at, and hope to get your input:
1. Auber AW-1520H PID controller (WiFi) using cabinet & meat probes. I love the 6-step progamming and reproducibility of such an automated process.
2. Some sort of analog 40-inch or 6-rack smoker cabinet. I could use the Bradley Original BS815XLT if I could find one - no luck there. I like the Bradley because it could be easily paired with their cold smoke adapter and the biscuit dispenser would alleviate a lot of the time spent with monitoring and reloading fuel.
3. A Masterbuilt 40 is another possibility, but I would need a cold smoke attachment and theirs does not look much better than the Smoke Daddy in terms of load it and forget it, creosote production, etc.
Both options #2 and #3 above could be accomplished by purchasing Bradley or Masterbuilt digital models, but that would be such a waste when I am paying $250 for a WiFi Auber PID that will bypass their factory controllers anyway.
OK, that's my RFP. Fire away!
