Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?
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Pivodog said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
Paul, you could also add an external smokebox so that it could used as a cold smoker.
At this point my plans are to use an A-mazing pellet smoke generator in an external metal enclosure.
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Pivodog said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
do you have a pic of the smoke generator?
.I will fabricate a box underneath and put the A-mazing pellet unit inside
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I will jump around a bit on the building of the smoker. Sorry if it makes the thread a bit harder to follow, but it keeps it interesting for me.
Here are the basic building blocks I purchased for the smoker heat controls.
Pictured are: 1) a weather resistant enclosure which will get mounted on the door. I wanted a some protection for the electrical components since the smoker will likely be used outdoors and could be exposed to the elements during a smoking session.
2) a solid state relay or SSR. This component actually switches the power on and off to the heating element . It receives a control signal from the PID controller and turns the SSR on and off.
3) An Inkbird PID controller and mounting bracket, which is a type of precision digital thermostat. Unlike a normal thermostat that cycles on and off very slowly, a PID controller switches the heating element on and off rapidly to regulate the temperature very precisely to minimize the temperature swings you can see with a regular thermostat.
4) A thermocouple probe which is a remote temperature sensor that will be mounted inside the chamber and sends a temperature signal back to the Inkbird PID controller.I will eventually post an as-build wiring diagram once everything is assembled.
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And because everyone likes to see things that light up and flash, here is what the control display on the PID looks like when its powered up. The thermocouple temperature sensor is connected to the PID, so the display is just reading the ambient air temperature at the moment. That is the number labeled PV, which is geek-speak for process variable.
After the thermocouple is mounted inside the smoker cabinet, it tell the PID what the chamber temperature is so the PID can control the heating element.
The value labeled SV is the user adjustable setting that sets the desired temperature we want to bring the smoker up to.
Paul
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And because everyone likes to see things that light up and flash, here is what the control display on the PID looks like when its powered up. The thermocouple temperature sensor is connected to the PID, so the display is just reading the ambient air temperature at the moment. That is the number labeled PV, which is geek-speak for process variable.
After the thermocouple is mounted inside the smoker cabinet, it tell the PID what the chamber temperature is so the PID can control the heating element.
The value labeled SV is the user adjustable setting that sets the desired temperature we want to bring the smoker up to.
processhead this is an amazing post. Thank you sir for taking the time to explain things so well.
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A little more progress over the last couple days.
I cut air intake openings in the bottom of the cabinet and added a metal enclosure to hold the A-mazing pellet smoker. Some may recognize the box as an old ammo can with the lid removed.The reason for putting the smoker on the outside of the chamber is two-fold. First, having it on the outside in its own enclosure means you can tend it without opening the door of the smoker. Secondly, having your smoke fuel in the heated part of the smoker can sometimes lead to a condition where its harder to keep the pellets lit due to low oxygen levels inside the smoker.
Having the smoke source outside like this should make cold smoking a very viable option.
I was really curious to see how the A-mazing pellet smoker would work in an unheated cabinet so I fired it up and it made a good smoke. The smoke draw through the cabinet was plentiful and exceeded my expectation. The next test will be to see how the heating element affects the smoke draw. I expect that the heated air and convection will improve the smoke draw.
While cutting and hacking holes in the sheet metal, I am happy to report all injuries were minor. lol
Paul
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A little more progress over the last couple days.
I cut air intake openings in the bottom of the cabinet and added a metal enclosure to hold the A-mazing pellet smoker. Some may recognize the box as an old ammo can with the lid removed.The reason for putting the smoker on the outside of the chamber is two-fold. First, having it on the outside in its own enclosure means you can tend it without opening the door of the smoker. Secondly, having your smoke fuel in the heated part of the smoker can sometimes lead to a condition where its harder to keep the pellets lit due to low oxygen levels inside the smoker.
Having the smoke source outside like this should make cold smoking a very viable option.
I was really curious to see how the A-mazing pellet smoker would work in an unheated cabinet so I fired it up and it made a good smoke. The smoke draw through the cabinet was plentiful and exceeded my expectation. The next test will be to see how the heating element affects the smoke draw. I expect that the heated air and convection will improve the smoke draw.
While cutting and hacking holes in the sheet metal, I am happy to report all injuries were minor. lol
processhead Thanks for all the info, very interesting.
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processhead LOL
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A little more progress over the last couple days.
I cut air intake openings in the bottom of the cabinet and added a metal enclosure to hold the A-mazing pellet smoker. Some may recognize the box as an old ammo can with the lid removed.The reason for putting the smoker on the outside of the chamber is two-fold. First, having it on the outside in its own enclosure means you can tend it without opening the door of the smoker. Secondly, having your smoke fuel in the heated part of the smoker can sometimes lead to a condition where its harder to keep the pellets lit due to low oxygen levels inside the smoker.
Having the smoke source outside like this should make cold smoking a very viable option.
I was really curious to see how the A-mazing pellet smoker would work in an unheated cabinet so I fired it up and it made a good smoke. The smoke draw through the cabinet was plentiful and exceeded my expectation. The next test will be to see how the heating element affects the smoke draw. I expect that the heated air and convection will improve the smoke draw.
While cutting and hacking holes in the sheet metal, I am happy to report all injuries were minor. lol
processhead well heck you still have four fingers left, all’s good.
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A little more progress over the last couple days.
I cut air intake openings in the bottom of the cabinet and added a metal enclosure to hold the A-mazing pellet smoker. Some may recognize the box as an old ammo can with the lid removed.The reason for putting the smoker on the outside of the chamber is two-fold. First, having it on the outside in its own enclosure means you can tend it without opening the door of the smoker. Secondly, having your smoke fuel in the heated part of the smoker can sometimes lead to a condition where its harder to keep the pellets lit due to low oxygen levels inside the smoker.
Having the smoke source outside like this should make cold smoking a very viable option.
I was really curious to see how the A-mazing pellet smoker would work in an unheated cabinet so I fired it up and it made a good smoke. The smoke draw through the cabinet was plentiful and exceeded my expectation. The next test will be to see how the heating element affects the smoke draw. I expect that the heated air and convection will improve the smoke draw.
While cutting and hacking holes in the sheet metal, I am happy to report all injuries were minor. lol
processhead A few more projects and you will be able to apply for disability! LOL
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A little more progress over the last couple days.
I cut air intake openings in the bottom of the cabinet and added a metal enclosure to hold the A-mazing pellet smoker. Some may recognize the box as an old ammo can with the lid removed.The reason for putting the smoker on the outside of the chamber is two-fold. First, having it on the outside in its own enclosure means you can tend it without opening the door of the smoker. Secondly, having your smoke fuel in the heated part of the smoker can sometimes lead to a condition where its harder to keep the pellets lit due to low oxygen levels inside the smoker.
Having the smoke source outside like this should make cold smoking a very viable option.
I was really curious to see how the A-mazing pellet smoker would work in an unheated cabinet so I fired it up and it made a good smoke. The smoke draw through the cabinet was plentiful and exceeded my expectation. The next test will be to see how the heating element affects the smoke draw. I expect that the heated air and convection will improve the smoke draw.
While cutting and hacking holes in the sheet metal, I am happy to report all injuries were minor. lol
processhead that is awesome. Great work
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processhead Here’s a resource for oven design.
https://www.alkar.com/service/technicalreports/OvenDesign.pdf
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processhead Here’s a resource for oven design.
https://www.alkar.com/service/technicalreports/OvenDesign.pdf
Pivodog Thanks!
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Dang processhead I thought that building a smoker would have been easier than building my dry curing/meat aging chamber but I was wrong. I am bookmarking this thread in case I get the bug to build. Well done sir!!
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Just updating my progress over the last couple of weeks. First, I built a heat diffuser to help spread out the direct radiation from the hot plate. One of the old SS shelves from a previous smoker project worked nicely and just needed some legs which I made from all-thread rod.
Next, I did some panel fabrication for the Inkbird PID controller. Again, just used materials I had laying around for the panel and standoffs that went inside the box. Once completed, the box was attached to the door of the smoker.
Wiring from the controller box was fished in through the interior of the door and out the side. The wiring was run between the outer layer of sheet metal and the insulation which is the cool side.
Next the wiring is routed though flexible conduit and into the inner cavity of the main chamber. This provides a flexible, durable route for the temperature controller wiring on the door to get it into the main compartment.
Paul
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Just updating my progress over the last couple of weeks. First, I built a heat diffuser to help spread out the direct radiation from the hot plate. One of the old SS shelves from a previous smoker project worked nicely and just needed some legs which I made from all-thread rod.
Next, I did some panel fabrication for the Inkbird PID controller. Again, just used materials I had laying around for the panel and standoffs that went inside the box. Once completed, the box was attached to the door of the smoker.
Wiring from the controller box was fished in through the interior of the door and out the side. The wiring was run between the outer layer of sheet metal and the insulation which is the cool side.
Next the wiring is routed though flexible conduit and into the inner cavity of the main chamber. This provides a flexible, durable route for the temperature controller wiring on the door to get it into the main compartment.
processhead what an amazing job you are doing.
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Just updating my progress over the last couple of weeks. First, I built a heat diffuser to help spread out the direct radiation from the hot plate. One of the old SS shelves from a previous smoker project worked nicely and just needed some legs which I made from all-thread rod.
Next, I did some panel fabrication for the Inkbird PID controller. Again, just used materials I had laying around for the panel and standoffs that went inside the box. Once completed, the box was attached to the door of the smoker.
Wiring from the controller box was fished in through the interior of the door and out the side. The wiring was run between the outer layer of sheet metal and the insulation which is the cool side.
Next the wiring is routed though flexible conduit and into the inner cavity of the main chamber. This provides a flexible, durable route for the temperature controller wiring on the door to get it into the main compartment.
processhead Fantastic. When this is finished, it will need to be preserved in a special How To category of it’s own, Not sure if Jonathon can do something like that.
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