Increasing smoker capacity
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So I’m using a borrowed vertical smoker for now while making snack sticks. My first couple of batches were five pounds each because I was learning and I wanted to minimize the risk. I was surprised to find that this was also all I could get in the smoker.
It’s relatively small. It’s only got two racks but has room for a couple more. The owner lost them at some point. I’m wanting to try some bigger batches so I’m probably going to buy them replacement grates. However, that only gets me to about ten pounds. How can I get more capacity? I’ve seen some people hang them vertically. Does that hold more while still allowing the smoker to function well? I’m using 19mm casings so it looks like allot of wasted space between grates. Anyone ever purchase additional grates and space them up off the others with blocks of some sort? Any other suggestions? Inside dimensions of the smoker are 15wide by 12 deep and about 16” from the top grate position to some clearance from the water pan.
Thanks. -
Clint Hunter Hanging can give you more capacity depedning on your smoker, now, you already said it is a vertical so it is probably set up to hang instead of lay flat. You can just get untreated wooden dowels and use those as your smoke sticks, it is what a lot of people do. They are inexpensive to replace when you need to and do a good job. My recommendatin to you would be to measure how long of a strand you can hang and then cut each one individually. Looping them at the bottom looks cool but it comes at the cost of a lot of space, if you do a single string hang (over the smoke stick just once at the top) you can probably fit alot more than you might think!
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On the Masterbuilt, I added a shelf between each original shelf, used stainless steel diamond web to cover each shelf. I can do 10 lbs no problem but have found after the smoke session to remove the lower chip plug to allow more air into the unit, regulating air flow with the top damper works for me. !
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So I’m using a borrowed vertical smoker for now while making snack sticks. My first couple of batches were five pounds each because I was learning and I wanted to minimize the risk. I was surprised to find that this was also all I could get in the smoker.
It’s relatively small. It’s only got two racks but has room for a couple more. The owner lost them at some point. I’m wanting to try some bigger batches so I’m probably going to buy them replacement grates. However, that only gets me to about ten pounds. How can I get more capacity? I’ve seen some people hang them vertically. Does that hold more while still allowing the smoker to function well? I’m using 19mm casings so it looks like allot of wasted space between grates. Anyone ever purchase additional grates and space them up off the others with blocks of some sort? Any other suggestions? Inside dimensions of the smoker are 15wide by 12 deep and about 16” from the top grate position to some clearance from the water pan.
Thanks.Clint Hunter
I added two pieces of angled aluminum close to the top. Notched the dowels so they don’t roll.

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