Help w/ AMNTS cold smokin in a Pit Boss pellet "grill"

[reformedvegan]

Folks,

I have one of the PB 700-series models. I tried cold-smoking cheese this weekend with my 12" AMNTS, and I was disappointed with the thick, white smoke it produced and the bitter, acrid, chemical taste of the cheese after smoking. I have vacuum sealed the cheese and plan to let it mellow for 6 weeks before trying it again.

I discovered on my second batch, that I could turn the cooker on (no pellets in hopper) and the fan would run, making the smoke thinner, and a bit "bluer", and better smelling, but not to the sweet-smelling TBS level that would be most proper. The fan also helped keep the temp a bit lower, which I struggled to keep below 80 F (about 50 F ambient temp).

Is there anything easy that I can do to make the combo of the pellet cooker and the AMNTS work better for me for cold-smoking? The solution I am thinking of is a mailbox mod incorporating some sort of fan (hairdrier?) to keep the combustion temp higher for a cleaner smoke and channeling the smoke into the 3" port for the (seemingly discontinued?) cold smoker box attachment. The two problems with this are 1) it's more complicated than I would like, and 2) this would channel the smoke into the *top* of the cooker, which I imagine may not expose the contents to an even smoke, as I imagine the smoke won't reach the bottom of the cooker very well (other exhaust ports are also on the top of the barrel).

Suggestions?

 

[bregent]

The mailbox mod is a good idea, as it really helps to clean up the smoke especially if the pipe is long. I would also suggest using dust instead of pellets, and the tray instead of the tube. I gave up on using my pellet grill as a cold smoker, and switched to my GOSM with mailbox mod. But after I gave away my GOSM, I switched to a cardboard box smoker.

 

[BigW.]

x2 on the tray and dust recommendation.

 

[reformedvegan]

does the dust burn hotter/cleaner? Can I make dust from the pellets I have?

 

[normanaj]

DXust

does the dust burn hotter/cleaner? Can I make dust from the pellets I have?

It burns cooler and cleaner.And you can certainly make dust from the pellets you have,
all you need is a blender and you'll have instant dust.

 

[reformedvegan]

DXust


It burns cooler and cleaner.And you can certainly make dust from the pellets you have,
all you need is a blender and you'll have instant dust.

I was under the impression that a cleaner smoke (TBS) is produced at a higher temperature, and thick white smoke at a lower tempteraure. Thus, I thought it best to have something that burns hot to produce a clean smoke and then cools the smoke before letting it hit the food. That's why I was thinking about the mailbox mod with a blower to get pellets to burn hotter for a cleaner smoke, and enough conduit to allow the smoke to cool before it hits the food.

 

[normanaj]

Maybe a wrong way of putting it.Dust burns much slower so it doesn't produce as much heat.

 

[reformedvegan]

Are folks getting TBS with the dust and 6x6 tray, without any forced air?

 

[campfirestu]

If you do the mailbox mod you can put a tee in the intake pipe going to the cooker and use a valve to bleed off unwanted smoke until it begins to burn more cleanly. (and you can regulate the amount that goes into the smoker) I had the same issues - inconsistency.