Been absent a while, need to get back into the game...

[dward51]

Well, I've been absent a while. Between my aging, health issues, and it being so dang hot in the South this summer, I've not really done much smoking or even snack stick making. I need to get back into it.

I'm thinking about an experiment with my new Humphrey's insulated reverse flow vertical smoker. As some of you know, years back I converted a MES entry level electric to a souped up insulated snack stick smoker. It worked great. So my logic is why can't this much bigger and already insulated cabinet smoker be used the same way?

I think I'm going to take an electric heating element and snake the cord through the 2" air inlet for the firebox. I will just sit the 120v element on the fire box floor. First I want to see if the multi-stage PID controller I used for the old MES Snack Stick smoker paired with a 120v element can heat the bigger cabinet through convection since it's a reverse flow (up then down and then out at the bottom of the smoke chamber). If it will, it should hold stick making temps like a dream as it has 2" of ceramic type insulation. Then the only missing part of the smoking equation is a pellet tube or Amazn pellet maze to generate smoke. That 2" air inlet should give good air flow to keep it all going.

I want to try a dry run with the heating element this week, as Kroger has Brisket (untrimmed Choice) for $3.99 a pound starting Sept 30th through Oct 8th in my area. That's much less than buying a 10 lb chub at Sam's or Costco right now and I have the grinder and other equipment anyway.

I'll post how the dry run works out afterwards. Yeah a I need to get back into using that expensive cabinet and I need some sticks (totally out).

For those not on the forum back in 2017 when I made the MES-SS model, here is the build thread:

https://www.smokingmeatforums.com/t...alog-to-full-time-snack-stick-machine.261147/

 

[chopsaw]

Good to see you back .

I will just sit the 120v element on the fire box floor.

I'll be following this . Be interested to see what it takes to get the chamber to the target temp , leaving the element in the fire box . Also what drop in temp happens when a cold mass is introduced .

Your post on the E-WSM inspired me to put a 1500 watt element in an old 22" kettle . I've done a couple test runs with it , but only one cook .

 

[sandyut]

Welcome back. Hopefully you can get back in the game. But life gets busy, health is a real thing, I think most of us know it...or will soon enough.

 

[dward51]

Good to see you back .


I'll be following this . Be interested to see what it takes to get the chamber to the target temp , leaving the element in the fire box . Also what drop in temp happens when a cold mass is introduced .

Your post on the E-WSM inspired me to put a 1500 watt element in an old 22" kettle . I've done a couple test runs with it , but only one cook .

E-WSM, that's a word I have not heard in quite a while. I still have that smoker and all the e-mods. Whenever I want something over direct heat, that's the way to go (sans water pan or ceramic pot base). Nothing like the smell of sizzling fat hitting the coals!

An update on this thread and the idea of putting a electric element in a Humphrey's Pint reverse flow vertical - Life get's in the way sometime. We had to deal with some issues with my father-in-law who is elderly and in dementia, so I have not had a chance to play with the element. It's suppose to be rainy tomorrow but my back porch where the Pint is located is covered. Might be a nice cool day to play with the setup and see if it will work for stick like I expect.

 

[chopsaw]

Ok . I was thinking off set for some reason .
Sounds like a workable plan . I bet it works great .

 

[dward51]

Actually I'm thinking of lots of ways to do this. A Humphrey's Pint is a big insulated box at it's heart. Here is an illustration from their site on how the air flow works it's way through the smoker.

Air inlet is a 2" ball valve on the bottom side into a lower firebox, There is a baffle that serves as a heat deflector and above that is a section where a hotel pan sits for a water pan (and they also have a welded drop in metal sheet with a box containing fire brick for a heat sink option - I have both). This forces the air up and into side channels on the left, right and back of the smoker. These channels go to the top where the interior sides are about 2" below the top to let the air flow into the main cook chamber. This entire assemble is wrapped in a 2" thick chamber containing ceramic high temp insulation. When running at 450 degrees you can put you hand on any part of the sides or top of the smoker with no problem. The doors are also insulated. The air flows downward to a set of holes in the lower back and then out and into a small box channel that goes upward and out the top of the smoker (smoke stack).

This give a number of options.....

1) Block all the inlets and outlets and just use an electric element - now a simple insulated cabinet "cooker". Place the element on top of the baffle inside the cook chamber with a small convection fan is also another variation of this.

2) Use an electric element in the lower portion, move the baffle to the bottom of cook chamber, and use a pellet tube or tray for smoke with 2" ball valve open for air flow, exhaust open. Electric reverse flow smoker (use PID controller for heat control). This is my core plan.

There are lots of ways to control air flow in the smoker - 2" ball valve is primary method, secondary is the sliding baffle over the exit holes in the lower back bottom of the cook chamber that enters the internal smoke stack (photo are all from before seasoning):

And last air flow control point is the top of the smoke stack, vent cover. Its closed in this photo.

One other thing I like about this smoker is has notches for sausage and bacon hanging racks at the top of the sidewalls in the cook chamber. You can see them in this photo, it's the V notches. The two silver pipes are for probe wires and have external caps and silicone inserts to prevent smoke loss.

My plan is to hang the sticks or summer sausage but I do have the full complement of 10 racks if I need them (this can hold a lot of sausage or snack sticks!!!).

I just need to confirm the air flow and how long it takes to heat up using an electric element and pellet tube/tray. I will probably put all of my inkbird probes on different shelves to see how even the heat is distributed during my test run (no food or water pan as simulated food load). If it does not work empty, it's not going to work loaded up.