- Jan 16, 2019
- 370
- 431
Am in the process of building a smoker for things like cheese and perhaps bacon and sausage. Plan is to use charcoal for heat (ya, we will see how that goes..), but smoke will be tubes or trays. Smoker is about half done:
I have used a tube with pellets before, but I was curious about trays so I acquired one of those. I was also researching dust and ran across "How to make Dust from Pellets" by Dave O Mak (Thank You!!). I took a big handful of Maple, added hot water ended up with a tray of dust:
Finally got around to testing the tray today. I only put a little in and used the torch I borrowed from my neighbor. First mistake was holding the torch too close to the dust and I blew half of it away. Kinda funny and kinda frustrating at the same time. I did get a little lit and watched it for a bit. I only managed to get the surface lit and I need to figure out how to get the front part lit, and not the whole top of it.
It smoked pretty well, but as I do, I wanted to futz with it. I had a tube of the lighter gel and I tried to light the other end to see if the gel made any difference in starting..... and it did, but not in a positive way. It just sorta bubbled and never really did anything. Perhaps operator error.
Overall, the smoke was lighter than a tube with pellets and I think that would work well with cheese since I have noticed my cheese is a bit bitter at first. Once it mellows for about a month it is really good. But I think that the lighter smoke and a little less time will be the way to go.
Since I had time, I decided to try some dust in the tube as others have mentioned. Only filled about a quarter of the tube and rammed it down. I generally use a starter cube with pellets so I tried it with dust. While it worked, I think the torch would have been a better way to go. I just have to remember to hold it about 5 inches away, otherwise burning dust goes flying.... I think I will be throwing the started gel away....
Once it got going, along with me blowing on it a couple of times (carefully), it produced a nice light/moderate amount of smoke.
It was fun and interesting day of experimenting. I think the dust is a little on the "fine" side but very useable. I was considering trying to mix a few pellets in with the dust to see what that does, but decided to save that for another day. I think maybe I need to pack the dust a little harder in the tray and maybe cover it with foil while lighting it to keep it contained.
Thanks for looking and once I get the smoker done I will post those pics. It is taking longer than I want, but hay, it is a hobby and no rush, right???
HowlingDog
I have used a tube with pellets before, but I was curious about trays so I acquired one of those. I was also researching dust and ran across "How to make Dust from Pellets" by Dave O Mak (Thank You!!). I took a big handful of Maple, added hot water ended up with a tray of dust:
Finally got around to testing the tray today. I only put a little in and used the torch I borrowed from my neighbor. First mistake was holding the torch too close to the dust and I blew half of it away. Kinda funny and kinda frustrating at the same time. I did get a little lit and watched it for a bit. I only managed to get the surface lit and I need to figure out how to get the front part lit, and not the whole top of it.
It smoked pretty well, but as I do, I wanted to futz with it. I had a tube of the lighter gel and I tried to light the other end to see if the gel made any difference in starting..... and it did, but not in a positive way. It just sorta bubbled and never really did anything. Perhaps operator error.
Overall, the smoke was lighter than a tube with pellets and I think that would work well with cheese since I have noticed my cheese is a bit bitter at first. Once it mellows for about a month it is really good. But I think that the lighter smoke and a little less time will be the way to go.
Since I had time, I decided to try some dust in the tube as others have mentioned. Only filled about a quarter of the tube and rammed it down. I generally use a starter cube with pellets so I tried it with dust. While it worked, I think the torch would have been a better way to go. I just have to remember to hold it about 5 inches away, otherwise burning dust goes flying.... I think I will be throwing the started gel away....
Once it got going, along with me blowing on it a couple of times (carefully), it produced a nice light/moderate amount of smoke.
It was fun and interesting day of experimenting. I think the dust is a little on the "fine" side but very useable. I was considering trying to mix a few pellets in with the dust to see what that does, but decided to save that for another day. I think maybe I need to pack the dust a little harder in the tray and maybe cover it with foil while lighting it to keep it contained.
Thanks for looking and once I get the smoker done I will post those pics. It is taking longer than I want, but hay, it is a hobby and no rush, right???
HowlingDog
