Smoke House Heat Problem!

[brahrider]

Hi and help! :). My hot smoke house is reaching a max temp of 150. It’s made of cedar and very tight. It’s 6ft x 46 x 46, and I am using a char griller fire box as the heat source.
I have aluminum dryer pipe as the conduit from the griller that is approximately 4ft long. And 4” in diameter. I am using A Rocker all aluminum blast gate between the box and the smoke house, that is attached to the smoke house. Please see attached pic.
I am thinking the the pipe is too long and was going to cut it to 2ft. I have two thermometers installed. One at the meat level and the other about 3 feet above that and they are both tracking the same temp. Any help is very much appreciated. Thank you!

 

[Alphonse]

Very nice looking smoke house! What temp are you looking for?

If 150F is too high, then your heat source is too big. Not sure what cutting the length of the duct will do for you. The draft is coming from the roof vent and a shorter horizontal run of duct removes pressure drop and will allow it pull a smidgen harder.

What fuel are you burning in the firebox? Have you considered a charcoal or fire management basket where you could use some sort of minion or snake layout with the fuel to slow the output down a bit?
Alternatively you could put a controller on it, e.g. Fireboard with a combustion air blower to throttle combustion air thereby controlling heat rate but again a well defined coal bed will be key.

 

[mike243]

Looks like its leaking air from the firebox lid, is the air in the door opened all the way so it can draft good? how big of a fire do you have in it because it will take some BTU's to ever get it up to temp, I would bet it's almost too small without a lot of work to keep it fed, open all the vents on the firebox to get as much heat rolling as possible. if it was drafting good I don't think you would see any smoke coming out of the lid, I would shorten the hose as much as possible but the aluminum hose may melt when you start getting some good temps rolling.

 

[mike243]

You may have to make you a divider with a 4" hole in it and block off about 1/2 of your smoke shack in order to get it up to temp, that way you can get where you want it to be, if you have racks made in it you could build where it will slide in and play with temps , then you could cold smoke in the chamber you created above it. good looking build and I'm sure you will figure it out quickly

 

[mike243]

Oh and take the sag out of the pipe, it needs to be at least level or at a upward angle, the galvanized pipe elbow will put out some dangerous fumes at the smoker so dont put in meat in the smoker till its burnt all the ugly stuff off if thats possible

 

[Lonzinomaker]

Like the others, I am unsure of your goal. Do you want more heat or less?

 

[mike243]

(Hot Smoke House) my take is its not getting Hot enough, I didn't see a cold smoker reference , I could be wrong though lol.

 

[Lonzinomaker]

Bahrider is having difficulty posting, sent a message stating he wasn't getting up to the temps he wanted. He did shorten the feed and got it straightened out for better feed. Melted a hole in his aluminum.
I suggested pellet stove 3 in pipe and maybe have to insulate smoker or get a bigger firebox.

 

[Alphonse]

I had quickly made the assumption by looking at a wood smoke shed that he wanted less temp and was trying to cold smoke.

If his goal is to got hotter, he may need a pit smoker vs. a smoke house.

 

[brahrider]

Thanx for all of the help folks. Problem is solved! I shortened the piping to 24 inches and purchased the flame boss. Additionally, I wrapped the connected end of the piping with aluminum sheeting to help dissipate the heat from the connection. Works perfectly now. I have smoked catfish and a whole chicken in last last week or so. The site is awesome! Thank you all.