Need advice for cold smoking with OK Joe and AMAZN Tube Smoker

[sjturbo]

I should have listened but I had to get one anyway. Todd said I would have trouble keeping the Tube Smoker going in an offset smoker but I thought I would try one anyway. Well here I am red faced looking for advice from anyone that has also tried this but was inventive enough to overcome the issues. Problem is there is not enough "draw" into the smoke chamber to keep the Tube burning. I have seen different pics such as the Mailbox smoker but did not actually want to drill large holes into the chamber. I did think of running a dryer vent with a small fan through the firebox to help. Another thought (actually another photo) shows using a dryer vent into the chimney from a smoke source. Anyway I was hoping for some advice. Thanks in advance! BTW the cold smoke is for cheese!

 

[dirtsailor2003]

Strange, it seems to me that if you had the firebox vent wide open and the exhaust vent wide open that you should be able to get a good draw. You basically have an attached mailbox mod as it is built. I wonder if you lowered the temp of the fire box if that would help? Place a 2 liter bottle of frozen water in the fire box. By lowering the ambient temp in the fire box it may draw to the warmer smoke chamber.

Another solution would be to pull the air through the smoker by putting a fan on the exhaust. Probably would work better than a fan blowing on the tube in the firebox. Having the fan blow on the tube may cause the pellets to ignite and burn rather than smolder.

 

[sjturbo]

Thanks very much for the response dirtsailor! I wasn't sure if everyone was waiting for me to figure this out on my own or if everyone was out tending there smoker. Everything seemed like it should work so I went to the simplest thing I could do, Microwave the pellets. Since it is monsoon season here in the southwest I dried the pellets for three minutes in the microwave, fired them up with the blow torch and all seems well. I have some cheese smoking now and if the temp stays down I may have a shot. I will update after the smoke and let you know how it went!

And thanks again for the ideas. Since it is so hot here anyway the idea of a 2L frozen in the smoke chamber might help too.

 

[sjturbo]

Update! The temp got a bit warm so the cheese drooped a bit! Did one block of cheddar and one block of pepper jack. After two hours I pulled the cheese, wiped oil off, wrapped and put the cheese in the fridge! Waited a few (really long) hours and then tried it. Gooood! Well worth the time. The AMAZN Tube and pellets worked great! Used 6oz and it lasted well over 2 hours. So it was a success and I appreciate you input!

 

[valleypoboy]

I use a pineapple juice can with the top cut off, 4 or 5 Triangle can punctures across the bottom edge, inside my FB. I light 3 or 4 charcoal briquettes, once they even out I drop a chunk of wood in on top then start laying out the cheese. If your weather is getting too hot try waiting until after 10pm when it cools off. My OK stays cool all night, so long as it IS a cool night. I alway go full open on exhaust and im pretty sure I keep the intake at 1/2 open max. Thermodynamics (may not be the right term, but makes me sound SMRT) will keep your fire going so long as your exhaust is wide open and your intake has more than a crack.