Forced air smokehouses

[blacktuskjerky]

Hello All!

My name is David. I am wondering if any of you are using forced air with your smokers. I'm interested in sharing ideas and talking about all aspects of jerky making!

 

[daveomak]

forced air smokers are used in commercial applications.... great drying... great eveness of smoke and temp and humidity....
If you are just concerned about jerky, look at SausageMaker D-10 forced air dehydrator... I have one and it is awesome.... pricey but AWESOME....

Dave

 

[blacktuskjerky]

I have a d20 actually, worked pretty good for a while, but it's too small now. Always looking for guys that have made custom setups for larger applications..

Thanks and it's nice to meat you!

 

[jerky nut]

No but I have been thinking of a way to circulate the air inside of my smoker. This would help keep the temperature even from top to bottom and help with removing moisture when I want it removed.  I need a small 110 volt fan that can withstand temperatures up to 240 degrees haven't found one yet that is small enough.

 

[jerky nut]

After I got done typing here I thought, duh. what about a fan from a convection oven.  I went to ebay  and scored this one for a

Jenair  oven. $37. free shipping. this will work out great.

.

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• jerky nut
• Jan 5, 2014

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• jerky nut
• Jan 5, 2014

 

[daveomak]

What a great idea.... Genius... OK.... Time to build..... :popcorn .....

 

[jerky nut]

As soon as it gets here from Arizona I'll keep ya posted with pictures.

 

[dcarch]

I run a low temperature smoker. I have been using a regular computer muffin fan inside to even out temperature and smoke distribution.

It has been working for many months at temperature as high as 185F.

dcarch

 

[boodro]

I do this and run about 160 degrees with no problem

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• boodro
• Jan 6, 2014

 

[papap]

Just installed a stove vent fan in my new smokehouse. If that does not hold up. I'm going to get a long shaft one from Graingers and mount the motor on the outside.

 

[jerky nut]

Got my fan from the UPS man and started install today .

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• jerky nut
• Jan 11, 2014

top removed

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• jerky nut
• Jan 11, 2014

Layout of where to cut and drill

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• jerky nut
• Jan 11, 2014

Cut and drilled now just need to cut out the ceramic fiber insulation.

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• jerky nut
• Jan 11, 2014

motor inserted into cutout

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• jerky nut
• Jan 11, 2014

backing plate attached to motor through the inside wall

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• jerky nut
• Jan 11, 2014

fan attached to the motor shaft.

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• jerky nut
• Jan 11, 2014

fan shroud attached

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• jerky nut
• Jan 11, 2014

All ready to go except the wiring. This fan is 2 speed so I'm thinking of tying it into the element relay so it runs at low speed with the elements cycles.

Then wire the high speed up to a on/off switch to run at high speed at any time I want even if the Heating element is off.

 Not sure what to do yet,

 

[daveomak]

Just a thought..... if it was on continually on low speed, when the element was off, the fan running would even out the heat for the cycle to restart.... Did that make sense ???

 

[jerky nut]

yea that makes sense. Maybe I should just wire it to a two speed switch and go from their good point Dave. Thanks.

 

[dcarch]

That is a very small fan for a big volume.

I think you might as well run it at full speed.

dcarch

 

[jerky nut]

 

[dcarch]

1. It will not have much effect to your smoke generator. The fan creates no added air pressure inside the smoker.

2. One of the problems I see why people have problems keeping AMNPS lit is the lack of air, or air movement. Your fan will significantly improve that condition. My smoke generator takes a few seconds to be lit, and it can keep burning for over 24 hours even at the lowest setting and using not too dry pellets. because my generator has forced air for burning.

I am not sure that is a true two speed fan. That is a shaded pole induction motor, which is line frequency dependent single speed motor.

dcarch

 

[jerky nut]

Ive never seen  a two speed induction motor  but it has three wires coming from the coil. My only guess was that they tapped the coil, that would explain the third wire . doing that should  reduce the the magnetic flux generated and affect the speed.  I haven't run the motor yet though.

 

[jerky nut]

Curiosity got the best of me so I cut the plug end off that motor and stripped the wires and yes it is a 2 speed fan.  So while I was out their playing around I started up my smoke generator while running the fan.  Looks like this is going to work out great.  When I opened the door it wasn't one big thick cloud of smoke billowing out.  It's hard to explain I could see to the back of the smoker right away, before It would take several seconds for the smoke to clear.  The smoke is evenly distributed and not as dense.  I can't wait to make some jerky or something to try it out.   The way it moves the air around, I should have even heating now.

 

[DanMcG]

Great thread ...I'll be looking for updates. Thanks

 

[dcarch]

"----  The way it moves the air around, I should have even heating now.----"

And you should have better smoke.

With more air moving over the meat, more smoke molecules makes contact and get absorbed into the meat.

dcarch