Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?
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I have been working on getting the power and control wiring finished and operational. I prefer to keep most of the wiring enclosed in conduit and covered electrical boxes or internal covered channels in the cabinet itself.
The exception is the the power cord to the hot plate which I could have hard wired into the system, but instead I left it with the original cord and plug and installed a receptacle underneath for it to plug in to. This will make it easier to replace if the element ever burns out or needs to be changed for some other reason.
Black cube shaped object is the Solid State Relay or SSR . It takes the low power control signal from the PID and switches the 120 volt AC current on and off to the hot plate inside.
SSRs generate some heat when they are switched on and need to be mounted to a metal surface or heat sink to absorb the heat.
In this case, the outer sheet metal cabinet of the smoker is acting as the heat sink.
Since the smoker is usually operated outside, I installed a GFCI device for safety. The case of the smoker is grounded through the power cord, also for safety.
The toggle switch is the main power switch for the unit. Both the GFCI and the toggle switch are rated for 20 amp service. I used a 15 foot long piece of 14 gauge cord to give the smoker a little more reach to an outlet.
The picture below was when I was trying out the auto tune function of the PID. Not great, but probably acceptable for a smoker.
Manual tuning of the PID did work pretty well though, and was holding temps consistently within +/- 2 degrees from the set point. I plan to do more tuning and testing with some pans of water in the smoker to simulate a load of meat or sausage.
processhead that thing is beautiful. What a great job
. Thanks for sharing it with us. -
PapaSop said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
processhead said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
bocephus said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
processhead I agree the casters are the way to go.
At age 50 I started putting casters on everything I own. Best thing I ever did. lol
Yep. Same here. Maybe we do get smarter [censored] we get older.
Great minds think alike. lol
Not sure about smarter PapaSop … I have definitely gotten lazier as I got older. Always looking for a short cut.processhead Man I need that bad boy in my life LOL!!! Awesome design. Maybe some day I will revisit the idea of building one for home use
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PapaSop They probably knew you were thinking something else even though you didn’t even know it.
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I am a fan of casters on equipment, so this smoker is getting some. Old feet off, enlarge tapped holes for 3/8 inch threaded casters and we be rollin.
Now that its outside, making a little smoke.
processhead this has been educational and fun to watch. Thanks for taking the time to share.
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processhead Does this inkbird PID allow you to set it up to automatically advance through stepping up the different heat levels, or would you need to manually change the temp settings at the desired time intervals?
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processhead Does this inkbird PID allow you to set it up to automatically advance through stepping up the different heat levels, or would you need to manually change the temp settings at the desired time intervals?
Ridley Acres said in Electric Smoker OR Landfill: What say you?:
processhead Does this inkbird PID allow you to set it up to automatically advance through stepping up the different heat levels, or would you need to manually change the temp settings at the desired time intervals?
No, this Inkbird is a bare bones PID controller, so it would require new setpoints to be entered manually.
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I am a fan of casters on equipment, so this smoker is getting some. Old feet off, enlarge tapped holes for 3/8 inch threaded casters and we be rollin.
Now that its outside, making a little smoke.
processhead It’s alive, it’s alive! Looking good.
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I have a pork belly curing in the frig. It should be ready by Monday and the smoker will go for its maiden voyage then.
Paul
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I have a pork belly curing in the frig. It should be ready by Monday and the smoker will go for its maiden voyage then.
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So far my dry run tests of the smoker have been mostly all positive. The A-mazing pellet smoke generator has worked well, but It did go out and had to be relit on a couple of occasions. I might try adding a couple of air intake holes in the underside of the metal compartment where the smoke generator sits.
Now that I have the PID tuning parameters set, the heating element and controls holds temperatures pretty constant after the smoker is up to temperature.
On my left- to-do list are:
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Add a stand stand alone digital thermometer on the door with with a probe for monitoring the IT of product inside while its smoking.
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I also want to add some angle brackets near the top-sides on the inside of the box so smoke sticks can be used to hang sausage and bacon hooks, The old wire shelves look like they will work pretty good for other smoking uses.
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I also need to finish installing some sheet metal trim pieces I made to replace the plastic ones that were in there originally.
Pretty sure there are other tweaks and improvements I will want to make as I continue to use it.
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Wiring schematic for the unit.
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I have a pork belly curing in the frig. It should be ready by Monday and the smoker will go for its maiden voyage then.
processhead have you seasoned it yet ?
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processhead have you seasoned it yet ?
craigrice , Yes, I have done several dry runs, of smoke, heat, and combined over the last couple of weeks.
That nice white interior is starting to take on a yellowish amber colorI am on track to smoke a belly I have been dry rub curing for the last few days, probably Tuesday or Wednesday.
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Added angle brackets for hanging smoke sticks today.
![20211010_164130[1].jpg](/assets/uploads/files/1633914097431-20211010_164130-1-resized.jpg)
![20211010_164135[1].jpg](/assets/uploads/files/1633914148203-20211010_164135-1-resized.jpg)
Paul
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Added angle brackets for hanging smoke sticks today.
processhead I really like following this build!
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Show time. Getting ready to close the door on these two 1/2 slabs. They look kind of lost in that big chamber. Wish I had some more ready to keep them company. lol
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processhead I wanted to wait until I had at least a little time to catch up on this thread. That looks awesome man, I cannot wait until you have the chance to smoke something in this! Any thoughts on how you could improve the pellet smoking? One thing to consider is that for really well-insulated smoker you don’t want to use pellets internally like that. This is because they apparently put off more pressure than chips/dust. I also wonder if that had anything to do with why it went out? Probably not, it was probably just lack of air? I don’t know this for sure but that is the reason we have gotten int he past for not doing it with the Pk 100 smokehouse. Just something to consider/look-up. I am betting someone here in the PK100 might be able to break this down further.
Still, it looks amazing man, cant wait to see it in use!
Get more help with your processing questions and learn more about processing meat by subscribing to our waltonsinc.com youtube page at https://wltns.link/waltonstv I am a Gorilla, love yourself
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Oh! what a good time to get up to speed! Good luck processhead !
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processhead I wanted to wait until I had at least a little time to catch up on this thread. That looks awesome man, I cannot wait until you have the chance to smoke something in this! Any thoughts on how you could improve the pellet smoking? One thing to consider is that for really well-insulated smoker you don’t want to use pellets internally like that. This is because they apparently put off more pressure than chips/dust. I also wonder if that had anything to do with why it went out? Probably not, it was probably just lack of air? I don’t know this for sure but that is the reason we have gotten int he past for not doing it with the Pk 100 smokehouse. Just something to consider/look-up. I am betting someone here in the PK100 might be able to break this down further.
Still, it looks amazing man, cant wait to see it in use!
Jonathon If you drill down through the thread, you will see that the pellets are burning in a A-mazing smoke tray, and it is located underneath the main chamber in a separate metal enclosure with a passageway for the smoke.
So there is some physical isolation between the pellets and the main heat source which should mean a safer smoker.
Another benefit is it should make cold smoking super easy.
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