BBQ fan, will it work in a smoker?

[sparkypyro]

I have seen small, metal blade battery operated fans you can add to the rotisserie slot in BBQ's that basically turn the BBQ into a convection BBQ. Has anyone tried or know if they will do any good in a smoker? This is the one I have seen. What are your thoughts?

http://www.bbqfans.com/products/Turboque-Convection-Grill-Fan.html

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[jirodriguez]

If that back housing is plastic I wouldn't do it. Also if you place it on a rack in the smoker all the electronics are going to get gummed up with smoke residue.

 

[sparkypyro]

From what I saw at the store I think you can remove the fan and cage, drill a small hole for the shaft to go through, insert shaft in hole then reassemble. My biggest question is will circulating the air and smoke make a difference? I want to try this on my 2 door Master Forge smoker.


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[oldschoolbbq]

Why not set on the Smokestack and get draft all the wat through the Smoker

 Wouldn't melt either...

jUST THINKING,HAVE FUN AND...

 

[sparkypyro]

Don't want to suck the smoke out.


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[traffictech]

I'm not a pro but I don't see any benefit from a fan setting on a grill.

It will get hotter because of more air being pumped in but it defeats the whole purpose of BBQ...Low and slow.

 

[7outof10]

from the size of it i dont think it would help on a grill at all im not even going to start on the smoker part other then im not going to use one ..............i have worked in restants for a long time and have lots of experence with commerical  convection ovens and the only ones that work move A LOT of air like you need to really stand back when you open the doors and yes they work good but why would we want to be speeding up cooking the meat .......i could see if you did not have good draft but that can normaly allways be fixed wiht small smoker mods (they are allways fun) why dont put a hair dryer in the smoke box of a stick smoker..........just saying lol

 

[chef jimmyj]

If you put just the Fan Blade in the Smoker there is no reason why it won't add some convection. If your temps at various points of the smoker vary greatly then the Fan will be a benefit to evening the temps out. The point of Commercial Convection ovens are they cook faster because more Hot air contacts the product as it circulates, and yes they have quite large powerful fans. I think in this case the small fan will have a limited effect on cook time but may work wonders at evening out smoker temp variations...JJ

 

[sparkypyro]

Evening the smoker temps out throughout the smoker is kind of what I was thinking it might do.


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[oldschoolbbq]

I still think if you placed it over the exhaust and placing a switch between the motor and power to regulate the speed(reostat?), would pull a draft but not "suck" everything out of the cooking chamber. Just thinking

Have fun and good luck...

 

[piaconis]

Are you planning to use this in an offset smoker?

 

[sparkypyro]

I did not buy one, just saw the fan at the BBQ store and wondered if it would help any at all. I think it was priced around 40 bucks. Don't want to blow 40 bucks on an experiment. Just found a new, all metal, 120 volt computer fan at work. It is in my truck now, thinking of throwing it in the smoker this weekend to see if it will do anything positive. Will be used in a 2 door Master Forge.



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[traffictech]

I did not buy one, just saw the fan at the BBQ store and wondered if it would help any at all. I think it was priced around 40 bucks. Don't want to blow 40 bucks on an experiment. Just found a new, all metal, 120 volt computer fan at work. It is in my truck now, thinking of throwing it in the smoker this weekend to see if it will do anything positive. Will be used in a 2 door Master Forge.
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Most computer fans only run on 5v-8v's. Some of my case fans run 24v. The rpms will range from 500 to 3000. I think to stir the smoke it would have to be  low movement as now to affect the heat source unless it had a separate firebox. Think of a reverse flow but having a low rmp fan to move the smoke back to the point where the smoke enters the smoking chamber. The flow from the fan would have to be less than whats coming in. I think the intake from the firebox would also need to be angled so the fan wouldn't force smoke back into the firebox. You might loose 50% of the smoke with each cycle but thats still moving 50% back over the grates/food.

I tried to draw a pic of what it might look like and yes I cant draw to save my like..lol

 

[chef jimmyj]

I seriously looked into the computer type fans last year. I checked with a couple of different companies and no one made a fan that could function in more than a 185*F environment so I gave up...JJ

 

[traffictech]

I seriously looked into the computer type fans last year. I checked with a couple of different companies and no one made a fan that could function in more than a 185*F environment so I gave up...JJ

PC fans would never take 200-300F temps.

They make fans that can operate in 1500-2000f but most are huge like 6' dia.

I wonder if this fan would take the heat plus. Not sure if they are variable speed fans or not.

http://www.partselect.com/PS2088499...Assembly.htm?SourceCode=3&SearchTerm=74011173

Hold the phone. The motor unit itself can be mounted outside the smoke chamber with only the fan(metal blade) and drive shaft exposed to the higher temps.

Use a small fireplace fan and a Solid State Variable Speed AC Motor Controller.  Done deal, that will work....

You could even change the size of the fan blade as long as it fits the drive shaft.

 

[speedfreakofnature]

I own and use the TurboQue and have done so for about 5 years now. I have used them on my gas grill and they do a wonderful job when using indirect heat. They keep air moving and they do even out temps.

I use it on my reverse flow smoker on the side opposite of the fire box to help prevent "hot" spots, particularly the one that forms in the upper corner. Inside the cooking chamber were as much as 25 degrees out. With the TurboQue it's within 2 degrees!!!

The TurboQue works like a convection oven just with less CFM. One person stated on another forum that they were concerned that a "convection fan" would cause dryness of the meat. That is not a problem as the TQue works on C cell batteries and not 110vac, so no worries. Besides, mopping your meat eliminates that issue anyway. 

My only critique is that you MUST keep it dry and the fan shaft lubed. They are meant to be removable so don't rigid mount yours with drilling a hole. I have a bulkhead that is removes with 6 wingnuts so I can swap out accessories. The TQue mounts on the outside and the steel fan is all that is on the inside.

I am surprised (actually not) at the number of people who have spoken on this topic with no knowledge of the product and how it functions. Research before you speak up people.