Cold smoker from a locker

[danw]

Hopefully, it'll mellow out.

Yes, it did. Or at least it smelled like it.

Bitterness is usually caused by 'old smoke' i.e. smoke hanging around the product for too long. I would imagine that this is rare with the CSG as it produces such a small trickle of smoke.

I think that the old smoke does have something to do with it. Not least because there has been little in the way of wind to draw the smoke up the locker and out of the vents. I actually used an electric fan (River Farm Smokery habits die hard) on top of the locker and drew the smoke out at a better rate.

So, the question now is, Can I only use the CSG in windy conditions?

Some thoughts:

The locker I am using is thin steel and around 5ft high. I started with the CSG at the bottom but it is now sitting on an olive tin a couple of feet off the bottom but the smoke still has a way to go until it winds its way out of the locker.

If the weather is very cold, as it currently is (relatively speaking of course), and the smoke produced is relatively cool (and CO2 rich) then isn't it harder for it to rise up and out? working on the principle that it is the heat(*) of the smoke that is making it rise.

If I move the CSG higher up the locker then the smoke will have less distance to travel, less chance to cool, and hence it will be less likely to hang around.

Any thoughts on this?

Just out of interest what wood was it?

German dust from the smokery.


[* - On the subject of heat, I was reading Maynard earlier today, and he talks about heating up his smokehouse before starting the smoking process. Although we never did that for our bacon 'chimney' (an internal cell-sized room), it regularly ended up pretty warm in there as we just lit a large pile of dust and let it burn through for a couple of days.

My gut instinct is that I could do with a bit of warmth that the CSG (of course) is unable to create. More comments on this welcomed too.]

[wheels]

FWIW, here's what I smoke in. I've used it in all weathers and temps including well below zero (not advised, but it was the only way to have the stuff ready for the party!).



It has a virtually open bottom, but the smoke still goes up the chimney rather than 'fall out'. I put it down to this thing on top of it:



I suppose that, ideally, you would run the smokehouse at the best temperature for the thing you are cold smoking, but it seems a lot of messing about to me. Having said that, I wish I'd thought of it last year when the temperature was 'minus freeze my bits off'!

Phil