Lower-Heat Smoking - Make Your Own

[wittdog]

That should work out just fine provided that the element is big enough to heat up the area along with X lbs of meat….you might need to modify the element…most heating elements have a safety feature that will need to be disabled to get the temps you want…The one I used in the smoke generator for my wooden smokehouse has a bimetal “thermestat” the just needed to be bent out a little more to get the temps I wanted before it kicked off…

 

[wittdog]

You might want to think about something like this http://www.alliedkenco.com/catalog/prod ... cts_id/782 it would be well worth the investment...

 

[bigwheel]

Well if the heat is getting too high for ya why dont you put some water in the pan instead of sand? That should tame down the excess heat real well and the additional moisture in the mix makes for a lot softer bite on the cases as well. Maybe just half or even a quarter pan of water so it don't cool it down too much. Just trying to cover all the bases here.

bigwheel

I'll have to look for any safeties on the unit - so far it hasn't tried to shut itself off. The dial on the side does a decent enough job of holding the temp at different levels, though I wish I could get cooler than 150. It seems to run from there to around 210. I used sand in the water pan, and though it takes a little longer to get to temp, it does a great job of regulating the heat, at least so far.

 

[wittdog]

I agree with you on the water.

 

[bigwheel]

Well guess I'm getting sorta confused on the game plan here. Person wanting to smoke in the 140 range is great for Tasso or Jerky making but when it come to hot smoking of sausage and your looking for an internal temp of somewhere around 155-160 of course a person aint gonna reach the goal cooking at 140. Dryish cases are great on the front end but high moisture levels in the pit will produce a superior product over the course of the cook session. Now somebody tell me that the addition of water to the equation doesnt serve to lower the temps gonna have to show me since I got kin who live near Misssouri.

bigwheel

 

[wittdog]

water in the mix will mess with the smoke absorbtion and color...I"ve been there done that..when I forgot to preheat the smokehouse and it became to humid inside....
If you bump the temp up to 165* after you've hit it with smoke for a few hours you will get the temp; of 152*-155* it just takes time...I do it all the time and we've been over this a time or two

 

[bigwheel]

Well never noticed a water pan hurting any smoked product I've made. In fact I dont smoke w/o it. Guess Noo Yawk Water works different than Foat Wuth Water One of old Joe Ames favorite trick was to poach up the sausage in a big pot o water till done..keeping the heat level around 170 then finish off with a cold smoke. I tried it a time or two and it wasnt bad. Nearly all the commercial stuff you get is cooked quickly in steam cabinets. Must be room for water in this equation somewhere.

bigwheel

 

[wittdog]

Well never noticed a water pan hurting any smoked product I've made. In fact I dont smoke w/o it. Guess Noo Yawk Water works different than Foat Wuth Water One of old Joe Ames favorite trick was to poach up the sausage in a big pot o water till done..keeping the heat level around 170 then finish off with a cold smoke. I tried it a time or two and it wasnt bad. Nearly all the commercial stuff you get is cooked quickly in steam cabinets. Must be room for water in this equation somewhere.

bigwheel

Thats the difference between the commerical stuff and the homemade

 

[bigwheel]

Well the techniques on the ho made stuff also seems to vary twixt the ho's

bigwheel