After first run with my cold smoker that I built

[West coast island smoker]

Just thought I would post a note after my first run of cold smoking six filets of salmon. Smoker worked great , temperatures did not get above 70 degrees, they mostly stayed at around 61, 62 degress . Smoked the fish for 16 hours , turned out quite well, a few things I would change on my brineing time and weight I used on top of them when brineing, but over all pretty good for first run . I will add a couple of pictures to show smoker in action. Please feel free to comment.

 

[pineywoods]

That smokehouse looks awesome my only concern is the heavy smoke coming out in the first pic. What are you using to create smoke?

 

[West coast island smoker]

It's a smoke generator from next to smoker , I will send a pic of it .

 

[West coast island smoker]

There is an inferred electric burner that heats up a cast iron pan with the dried alder chips in it. The smoker I preheated , and not getting any condensation inside the smoker , there is a bit as it hits the metal exhaust pipe outside the smoker, as the temperature outside is appropriately 36 degrees. I graded the exhaust slightly to the outside so that if there was any condensation it would drip outside smoker. The exhaust pipe inside the smoker is flush to inside and sealed with a food grade high temp silicon . I'm interested in your concern of the heavy smoke that you mentioned. Thanks.

 

[flatbroke]

Looks very nice

 

[bmudd14474]

Heavy smoke will cause creosote to build up. It should be thin blue smoke.

 

[pineywoods]

It might be steam or something but it looks to me like white billowing smoke and that can lead to creosote that's why I was asking. Just by looking at pics it looks like you have a barrel with the electric burner heating the frying pan in it producing the smoke then it comes out into a 6" or so stove pipe into the smokehouse then out a 6" or so exhaust?? Looking at pic 2 and 4 it looks like you may still be adjusting to try to get the setup that works best. It could just be steam or something as I said or maybe it's to much alder in the frying pan at one time. Do you have or have plans to add heat into the smokehouse?

 

[West coast island smoker]

Heavy smoke will cause creosote to build up. It should be thin blue smoke.

View attachment 386861

Thank you for your comments. I certainly can reduce the amount of chips and temp of burner in the steel generator. The picture you see with the smoke coming out thick was my first test with no product in it. However I do understand your concern of creosote building up. I was trying to post a video that may give a better idea of what was coming out of exhaust but was having trouble getting to post. I will try to send it again and give a more realistic view. That pic was also at night with a flash light pointing at smoke which made it look quite a bit more than it really was. For you question of heat inside smoker, at this point I have tested putting my burner directly into smoker, for when I do a hot smoke salmon , and got temp up to about 143 and that was with a 1000 watt burner, next test will be with the 1300 watt burner. I haven't anticipated going over the 175 mark but time and testing will see. Thanks again for comments as I'm still learning and always look for good suggestions.

 

[pineywoods]

The smokehouse itself looks like a piece of art it looks like you put a lot of time and effort into it. I'm sure you'll get the smoke and heat figured out for cold smoking I use one or two amazen pellet smokers right inside the smokehouse depending on what I'm smoking and how much smoke I want. Right now mine is set up with a propane burner in it for heat but I have been considering putting a PID in it for better temp control. I don't figure on ever hot smoking in it but like to do sausage once in awhile so would like to get good control of temps up to 180 or so.

 

[Pakinwa]

Hello, I'm a returning older member who has since changed locals, e mail etc. I have been cold smoking for about 40 years and have smoked a lot of different products. I must say that is one beautiful smoker. I really like the wood racks. My smoker is built on the lines of yours but is no where near as pretty. My experience with cold smokers is for safety reasons the pipe must be cleaned frequently to remove creosote accumulation. At some point the creosote will catch fire and the resulting burn is super hot and dangerous. My smoker has 4 racks for product, a rack to diffuse the smoke and a rack for filters to remove the heavier tar particles from the smoke. There is as little metal in the smoker to reduce the condensation droplets when smoking at lower temps below around 35 F or so. I do have the pipe leading into a cinder block box for fire/heat control. There are also adjustable vents in the top. Enjoy that smoker, smoking is fun.

 

[West coast island smoker]

Hello, I'm a returning older member who has since changed locals, e mail etc. I have been cold smoking for about 40 years and have smoked a lot of different products. I must say that is one beautiful smoker. I really like the wood racks. My smoker is built on the lines of yours but is no where near as pretty. My experience with cold smokers is for safety reasons the pipe must be cleaned frequently to remove creosote accumulation. At some point the creosote will catch fire and the resulting burn is super hot and dangerous. My smoker has 4 racks for product, a rack to diffuse the smoke and a rack for filters to remove the heavier tar particles from the smoke. There is as little metal in the smoker to reduce the condensation droplets when smoking at lower temps below around 35 F or so. I do have the pipe leading into a cinder block box for fire/heat control. There are also adjustable vents in the top. Enjoy that smoker, smoking is fun.

Thanks for your comments, I'm about to try a hot smoke into starting tonight. I do have some heavy steel that supports the strap hinges. I'm about to try changing out my burner from electric to propane, will see how that works. Will post a report on this new burner thanks .

 

[dave17a]

Open the little door.

 

[West coast island smoker]

Open the little door.

The little door holds all of the six wood racks, a fold out table and a wooden drawer . Will attach a pic , thanks.

 

[West coast island smoker]

Open the little door.

Here are a few pictures of what's behind the little door of smoker . Holds six smoker racks, fold out skinny table , drawer for chips and utensils, and bottom storage for steel couplings, and extension lengths of 4" steel pipe for connection between generator and smoker.