Genius idea?

[SuperDave]

My buddy and I were discussing cold smoking and he proposed the idea of placing a vented box on top of our smokers that would use the exhaust smoke from our smoker to cold smoke the food item.  I'm visualizing some real possibilities.  What do you guys think?

 

[NDKoze]

So, you could cold smoke and warm smoke at the same time if you wanted to?

Very interesting idea. That could solve the issue of low air flow through the main box.

 

[Barrel99]

Something about using recycled smoke bothers me about that unless I missed something.

 

[NDKoze]

I'm not sure it would be considered recycled smoke. It is just taking a little longer to get from the main smoke box to the cold smoke box.

It is a very popular method in home built smokers to run the smoke for a distance in a tube underground before flowing into the smoker. So, unless you were talking about somehow recirculating the smoke from the top back through the bottom again, I don't know that I would consider this recycled.

My thoughts anyhow.

 

[Barrel99]

Like I said, I am probably missing something here in the way it works. Exhaust smoke to me means used smoke so that's where I get concerned, unless the vented box is actually another burner. More info please Dave.

 

[SuperDave]

In simplest terms, making an offset smoker by putting a vented box over the hole on the top of our smoker. The heat is primarily contained in our smoker while cool smoke passes into the "cold smoke box".  It is essentially how cold smoking has been done for 100's of years. 

 

[Pork Belly]

I think it would be easier to just run the SI at 100 or less and skip the extra box.

 

[SuperDave]

I think it would be easier to just run the SI at 100 or less and skip the extra box.

That setting doesn't control heat gain from the smoking wood. 

 

[NDKoze]

I think it would be easier to just run the SI at 100 or less and skip the extra box.

This isn't an option if you want to cold smoke though Brian. Specifically for cheese, you can't have your cheese go over 90 (preferred to not go over 75) or it will melt.

I think it is an interesting idea if you really want to do a lot of cold smoking at low temps.

 

[tnlyne]

I'm interested in how this could work. Kill two birds with one stone. Smoke a brisket in the chamber and cold smoke cheese in a "smoke trap" on top of the SI2. I don't really feel like buying cold smoking plates for the standard methods of cold smoking but if I could do it from the exhaust port on the top during a regular cooking session it would be worthwhile trying (e.g. cheese).


I'm guessing ambient air temperature is likely to drive the success of something like this. Along with the design of the "smoke trap" on top.

 

[SuperDave]

For cheese, I thought this could be as simple as a cardboard box and a baking cooling rack.  I'm not sure about the 2 smokes at once as I'm not sure whether the smoke would have picked up any meat flavors / particles.  But with little to no investment in parts and a block a cheese, might be worth a try. 

 

[Barrel99]

Should work fine Dave as long as the SI box temp remains low. There is a lot of heat that comes out that exhaust. Here in Florida where my ambient temp is in the 70s I would need the minimum temp necessary to burn the wood, probably pellets.

 

[NDKoze]

The cardboard box option is exactly what is recommended in my Big Chief directions.

Although with a little bit of scrap wood, I think it would be pretty darn easy to make a wood box as well. I think this would be a summer time project for me, but it is intriguing if nothing else.

It would be interesting to see what kind of temps you would get.

 

[SuperDave]

Gregg,
My other thought was taking the bottom out of an old mini chief, if one had one laying around. 

 

[NDKoze]

Gregg,
My other thought was taking the bottom out of an old mini chief, if one had one laying around. 

Or just drilling some holes in the bottom. If the smoke can work around the Cold Smoke Plate, I would think it would be able to make its way through some drilled holes in the bottom. What way you would have some drip stop in case whatever you are smoking can drip.

I guess you could cover the top of the SI and poke a hole prior to setting the box on top too.

 

[DivotMaker]

???  I see what you are saying, but you would definitely have to find a way to cool the smoke, which would degrade the amount of smoke.  The smoke coming out of the vent hole is at whatever temp you are running your smoker - it vents the heat, too.  If you devise a way to pipe the smoke somewhere other than the top of the smoker, it might work.  But, it also may have an adverse effect on airflow through the smoker.  Just spit-balling  here, I'm not sure.

 

[NDKoze]

A couple things that will help are that the box no matter what you make it out of will not be insulated as well as the SI. So, you'll lose some heat that way.

I would also have more vents which will let more cool air in as well.

 

[tnlyne]

Just cold smoke here during the Iowa winter. When I did my Boston Butt's the other day it was -10. I'm guessing the smoke in a cardboard box on top with those kind of temps wouldn't be all that warm without the insulation and extreme cold temps.

 

[BedouinBob]

I have been watching this thread. Personally, I am not sure if the SI pulls enough draft through it to make a separate smoke box worth while. In most of the setups I have seen for cold smoke, there is a fair amount of ducting between the hot box and the cold with enough draft to pull the smoke. Since the SI is so efficient, it doesn't pull a lot of air through it. I think I will stick with my cold plate.....it works great. 

 

[NDKoze]

You wouldn't really need draft coming from the SI if you have proper venting in the cold smoke box.

There is plenty of smoke that comes out of the smoke hole and effective vents in the cold smoke box should get it moving through the cold smoke box.