Smokin-It jerky drier - DIY

[JC in GB]

Good day all. I wanted to put together a DIY jerky drier for my 3.5D. I had some parts laying around so I hacked this gem together.

I mounted a DC power supply and a PWM controller on top of a blower fan. The fan sits atop a soup can that will sit over the exhaust port. I will be drilling the proper size hole in the bottom of the can to fit the smoker exhaust port.

I am going to use JB Weld or perhaps just silicon RTV to secure the fan to the soup can and use magnets to hold it down over the smoker exhaust hole.

I got the incorrect fan for PWM use so I added a diode and capacitor to make it work. Not great speed control now but it will be sufficient. Replacing the fan with one that will accept PWM control will be a future update.

JC

 

[JC in GB]

Well, first attempt was a failure as magnets don't stick to non-ferrous metal. DOH!

Seeing as magnetism has failed me, I will be going to try and use gravity to do the hard work.

I am going to make a sacrificial mold and fill the can with mortar. That should be of sufficient mass to hold the can in place.

JC

 

[Steve H]

Sounds interesting. Following.

 

[JC in GB]

After seeing the jerky drier Lonzinomaker made on a better screen, I understand his design far better.

I gave up on the tall chimney idea and followed Lonzinomaker's design and. Made the whole thing short and sweet.

I used gorilla contact cement to secure a Mason jar lid ring to the fan body.

I did a short test with it and it works great.

I also modified 2 racks in my smoker to accept jerky.

Looking forward to making a big batch of tasty jerky.

JC

 

[old sarge]

More streamlined than your earlier unit. Looks good!

 

[bauchjw]

Wow! That is impressive tinkering

 

[Norwester55]

If you decide to update your fan, AC Infinty has a good line of fans and a controller and is what I went with. They're pricier now, just depends what you want spend. My #1 is quite a bit smaller than your 3.5 and the Axial 1225 (51 CFM) works well for me with the controller set to medium. They have fans that deliver from 22CFM-110CFM. I thought the controller would have infinite settings but its 3 presets, low, medium and high. If I was to do over I'd probably just use a light switch dimmer but it works good enough as is.

 

[JC in GB]

Thanks for the info. I prefer centrifugal fans for their higher head pressure.

I will see how this works out before I spec out a new fan.

That fan set-up looks very easy to use.

JC

 

[Steve H]

centrifugal fans

I think you're correct for this application. I still need to get that inkbird set up installed. And see how it works out.