Newbie

[loosegravel]

Hello, I've been a fan of Jeff's Smoking-Meat.com website for several years. I'm in the process of building a two-part smoker. The first part is what I would call the "smoke generator." I'm using a Lopi wood pellet stove, something that was designed to produce heat with no smoke. I have cut down the air supply enough where it now bellows out the smoke with no heat. I can attach pictures if needed. The second part is what I would call the "cooking vessel". I have insulated this vessel so I can now smoke meats in very low ambient temperatures like down into the teens. The heat source is an electric heating element and the manual thermostat out of an older oven. The one draw back is that I need 220 volts to power the heating element. My goal is to produce a smoker that I can walk away from and not have to tend to it so often. I'm just wondering if anybody has ever used a wood pellet stove as a smoke generator before? Thanks and I will post some pictures of what I'm building very soon! Glad to be here.

 

[noboundaries]

Welcome! Looking forward to the pics!

 

[Brokenhandle]

Welcome to SMF! And pics are always good

Ry

 

[mike243]

Welcome ,I have a electric smoker and a pellet smoker, I can use a tube with pellets in the electric and can walk away from both without worrying if something is going to fail, so far they haven't and the electric unit is probably 10 years old or so. Good luck on the build and its easy to post pictures here as they host them.

 

[sawhorseray]

Welcome from Gilbert, AZ! Interesting project you have going, photos help. RAY

 

[SmokinAl]

Welcome to SMF!
Really looking forward to seeing your build!
Al

 

[kruizer]

Welcome to SMF from Minnesota.

 

[pit of despair]

loosegravel,
Welcome from Virginia. Always post pictures we love them!
Teddy

 

[Mastercaster]

Welcome from Texas! Can’t wait to see your build. I recently completed a build using a non-working food holding cabinet. It is 240v and controlled by Auber SMD-200 PIDs. You may want to check out using a PID in lieu of a T-stat. Keep us posted.

 

[loosegravel]

Hello, I've been a fan of Jeff's Smoking-Meat.com website for several years. I'm in the process of building a two-part smoker. The first part is what I would call the "smoke generator." I'm using a Lopi wood pellet stove, something that was designed to produce heat with no smoke. I have cut down the air supply enough where it now bellows out the smoke with no heat. I can attach pictures if needed. The second part is what I would call the "cooking vessel". I have insulated this vessel so I can now smoke meats in very low ambient temperatures like down into the teens. The heat source is an electric heating element and the manual thermostat out of an older oven. The one draw back is that I need 220 volts to power the heating element. My goal is to produce a smoker that I can walk away from and not have to tend to it so often. I'm just wondering if anybody has ever used a wood pellet stove as a smoke generator before? Thanks and I will post some pictures of what I'm building very soon! Glad to be here.

Thanks to everyone for the warm welcome. The pictures are of an older version. I'm in the process of my first big revision using a different pellet stove for the smoke generator and adding some beefier rear hinges for the cooking chamber. Because I'm using insulation between the char-griller and the 55 gallon drum this things heats up and holds the operating temperature very well. The whole concept worked very well. The controlled heat comes from the oven heating element. Because of the thermostat I can dial in the heat to 225 degrees and it will cycle on and off within a 20 degree window of that. The smoke comes from the pellet stove and that is automatic because of the auger and the hopper. I'll send some closer pictures of how I slowed down the fan speed using a 200 ohm ceramic rheostat.

 

[gary s]

A Big Ole Howdy and Welcome from East Texas
Be looking forward to seeing your smoker build

Gary

 

[pushok2018]

Welcome from NorCal! That is an interesting project you are dealing with.... Looking forward to see updates how it goes...

 

[JC in GB]

Welcome from Wisconsin.