smoke pipe question

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king kabanos
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smoke pipe question

Post by king kabanos » Fri Jun 26, 2015 04:32

hey everyone i have a question about my smoke pipe going into my smoke house. the pipe i have is a 6 inch inside diameter duct pipe and heats the smoke house great but preety much only in the middle which is fine for a little batch but when the smoke house is full i want even heat in the back and in the front of the smoke house so i dont have to move around the smoke sticks does anyone know what i should do. i was thinking about getting a 10 inch pipe or 12 but i think that will raise the temp more and will have to play with the fire more. do you think a duct increaser from 6inch to 10 inch or 12 inch would more or maybe a baffle like a collander over the pipe
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Re: smoke pipe question

Post by el Ducko » Fri Jun 26, 2015 16:10

king kabanos wrote:hey everyone i have a question about my smoke pipe going into my smoke house. the pipe i have is a 6 inch inside diameter duct pipe and heats the smoke house great but preety much only in the middle which is fine for a little batch but when the smoke house is full i want even heat in the back and in the front of the smoke house so i dont have to move around the smoke sticks does anyone know what i should do. i was thinking about getting a 10 inch pipe or 12 but i think that will raise the temp more and will have to play with the fire more. do you think a duct increaser from 6inch to 10 inch or 12 inch would more or maybe a baffle like a collander over the pipe
It's not just in smoke houses. Smoke distribution is a problem in my fairly small Masterbuilt, too. I can't say that I've solved the problem, but I did help the situation by ripping out all the smoker chip box and chip addition stuff, opening up the bottom area of the smoker. (It improved the temperature controller's response, too- - not as much metal to heat.) I then installed a couple of those adjustable-length slotted grill racks, the kind that are supposed to get hot and vaporize meat juices for smoke. They are slotted, so smoke has to flow around a bit, stirring it up.

When I put my Amazin' pellet burner smoke generator below the racks, the smoke gets spread out throughout the Masterbuilt's box, although not quite evenly. I've tried laying sausages horizontally and moving them from time to time, hanging 'em vertically and reversing the racks from time to time... No complete cure for the uneven smoke problem, but at least these things help.

So I'd suggest some sort of grating installed in the smokehouse, below the meats. Hopefully it'll help. Good luck

el Ducko
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Butterbean
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Post by Butterbean » Sat Jun 27, 2015 00:15

It would be much easier giving some advice if you posted a picture of your smokehouse.

Without seeing it, I would suggest this alternative. I'd keep the pipe the same diameter but move the fire box away from the smokehouse so you only get cold smoke. This is assuming you have ample draw.

For heat, I would put a gas burner in the smokehouse. By doing this you will be more versatile and it will allow you to control the amount of smoke and you will be able to dry the meat in a smokeless house till the meat is ready to take smoke.
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Post by redzed » Sat Jun 27, 2015 15:15

Hey King, El Ducko has some great ideas that look like they do work. Masterbuilt should implement his ideas in a new line of Duckmaster smokers. :grin: And as Butterbean recommends, it does provide you with a degree of versatility and better heat control if you have separate sources for heat and smoke.

In reading the Bradley forums, some guys also installed fans to imitate a convection oven, and while that may improve the heat distribution, it more than likely disturbs the flow of the smoke through the chamber. And unless you buy a high end professional smoker where smoke is infused from a large number of entry points throughout the chamber, you need to re-position the sausage as you smoke it. I do it in my Cabela's Pro100, usually a couple of times during each session.

And when are we going to see some pics of your new mixer and stuffer in action?
king kabanos
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Post by king kabanos » Sat Jun 27, 2015 16:56

did not buy the mixer yet but the talsa stuffer is great the first time i used it i stuffed 60 pounds in 3 min i will post pictures of it next time i make a batch. here are some pictures of the pipe and smoker. i think if i put a plate over the pipe or i was thinking a big steel bucket with holes all over to be a diffuser/baffle so it distributes the smoke and heat all over the smoker evenly do you think this will work better?

Image

Image

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Post by NorthFork » Sat Jun 27, 2015 18:23

King-your smoker is much like mine. Mine is cedar boards about 42 inches square, I have the heat/smoke source in the base of mine (2 separate propane burners) and I have a baffle plate about 12 inches above my burners. the plate is about 3 inches from the walls on all sides so the smoke/heat is diverted to the outside of the smoker but quickly fills the center void quite evenly. I do have about a 15° temperature difference from top to bottom but no measurable difference from front to back or side to side. I do not have an operable exhaust vent on mine, it breathes through the joints in the boards quite well and with this it is very evenly vented. It probably uses a bit more wood chips/pellets than it would if tightened up and vented with an adjustable vent but this way I never worry about stagnation in the smoker. If I were you I would try using a baffle(it could be wood since you have a remote heat source) over the inlet. It could be solid or you could arrange some boards on supports a few inches above the inlet, just leave a small gap between the boards and play with it until you like it. You might also think about a baffle a few inches below your exhaust outlet. You could do it the same as the inlet baffle or take a solid baffle and drill a bunch of holes in it to cause the smoke/heat to remain dispersed in the chamber until it has passed through the baffle. Heat(and therefore smoke) will find the shortest/least resistant route from point A to point B-it usually isn't too difficult to make this work for you instead of against you.

Hope this helps some-
Pat
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redzed
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Post by redzed » Sat Jun 27, 2015 23:40

Hey Pat!

Tell us how's fishing in your neck of the woods these days. I usually fish from shore on a river in Port Alberni for Sockeye this time of year and so far nothing. Way too warm, and the rivers are low. :sad:

(Apologies to the King for intruding)

Chris
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smoke distribution

Post by crustyo44 » Sun Jun 28, 2015 07:39

I solved the problem with my smaller smoker. The chips and sawdust mix are kept smouldering/smoking by means of a 3 speed aquarium pump with 2 outlets.
One outlet is directed at the wood mix the other outlet is angled inside slightly upwards, this distributes the smoke all around the inside and out of the chimney.
It solved my problem quite satisfactory as the air pump was cheap and no work involved apart from setting up the plastic airhose and a 12" piece of 1/8 brake tubing.
Cheers,
Jan.
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