Controling amount of smoke in a stick burner

[Puff]

First.... You're right about taking 9 million people for a day... Reminds me of a quote from the movie "Cocktail" " proctologists dream, wall to wall a..holes". Thankfully, I live in the last rural spot here but once you're out on the road...it's back to that quote again.

Second... Have you looked into what I only know is called a "shadow plate"? Do a search here and see if this sheds a bit more light on the issue for you .

[Big T]

I remember a while back someone welding a piece to the inner end cap above the BP gap. They said that it made a huge difference in the temps from top to bottom racks. I agree with Puff that a shadow plate will help with the hotter end by the FB.

[Miles]

Well I'll give welding that piece in place a try. I was going to cut a deeper one so the smoke and heat would have to enter the CC even lower but that one is already cut. I can always add to it if calls for.

Those con-rods are from my 1968 Pontiac 428 engine. I just needed something to lean the plate against to take the pic this morning. When I rebuilt I needed 0.065" over pistons. Of course no one has 65 over piston so I had to get custom ones made from Ross Racing Pistons, I should have bought nine they look so nice I could have hung one on the wall. I couldn't see attaching those new pistons to 47 year old rods so I bought forged H-beam rods and the snowball really started. The old rods are balanced and reworked, they would look good if I could somehow incorporate them into the build but they would be better in another Pontiac block.

[bluecatfish]

Yeah, building an engine and a smoker are similar price wise. They both can snowball! You think you have everything figured out and the next thing you know you are buying something else, but then when it all comes together you are proud of what you have built.

[Puff]

Something tells me you're absolutely right!

[Miles]

Well I know a lot more about the proper use of a dial bore gauge, micrometer, torque wrench and other hand tools than I do about anything involving welding, but you are correct I was happy with my smoker build. I also learned a bit about welding and have a lot more respect for those who do that job well. I was going to weld that plate in yesterday but we've had hurricane force winds here the last couple of days and the power keeps going out, I may be able to get it done tomorrow and test it out.

Puff, that is one beautiful bike, I bought mine as a basket case in Montana in 1978, I spent three years trying to find parts to restore it to something resembling original but gave up and created a driver by 1982. We called them resto-mods back in the day. It's been the same since, except I lost the tool box off the right side. I have another propane tank, maybe I could put a sidecar wheel under it and have a mobile charcoal burning grill.

[Puff]

Nice ride Miles. My 64 pan was literally carried home in baskets. Paid $900. For it at a swap meet and it turned out to be the picture you see here. There are several advantages in modernizing some parts.

My problem is that I have a burning need to restore to factory spec. This makes some huge delays. I've posted some of these before but since you may not have seen them.

.

.

.

.

Sorry to hi-Jack the thread... Just blowing off the dust again

[Miles]

Mine's a 51, same year I was born.
Those are some very nice bikes, that bi-plane looks like a Stearman but has an engine cowl and struts like Waco, tail looks like it's off a Stinson, I'd have to guess Waco.
Hi Jack, shmy jack! You can attach great photos like that any time you want as far as I'm concerned.
I have a new neighbor, he has five Indians and the parts for six more. It's like going into a museum entering his garage. I lucked out.

I flew to the Airshow at the Comox airforce base in this one, it's owned by two of my skydiving buddies.
I love this old stuff.

[Miles]

I cut another piece 2" wide to fit under the first plate. I just bolted it in for now. The first plate stops about one inch above the top food rack, the second plate is about level with the bottom of the top rack. I will try it with just the top plate then with both. If both works better I will weld it in , if not I will remove it.

[Rodcrafter]

I haven't seen that done before. I'm looking forward to see how it works.


Making memories.

[Puff]

Back in the mid 1970's we had gone to Rhinebeck, NY to a vintage aircraft air show and museum. They had Sopwith camel, Foker D VII, P-51 mustang, plus a ton of very early planes. That is a very pretty airplane . The one in the photo is new. They used it as a backdrop for the bike when they photographed it for a calendar. It was the month of January and the cover. My friend Fred Lange who passed on a few years ago was a local Indian dealer through 1950. Talk about garages! He got me into collecting Edison phonographs and Victrolas.

My wife and I Used to think we wanted to skydive. Then someone at a flight school in Lakehurst, NJ landed in the power lines and my wife and I developed a yellow streak in our spines that just screamed ..." no way"....l that was the end of that plan. And, just like smoker building...there is an Antique Motorcycle Club. At the time most members were originals that owned stuff from 1905 to 1953..rusty and running but BEAUTIFUL. Today, parts are like vital organ$

Anyway.... Like RC says....would like to know how this mod works

[rikun]

I'm having similar problems with the coal bed, splits don't leave enough coal behind to keep it going...

On another note, how do you get more smoke flavour with stick burner? Burn greener wood? I've done now around 5 cooks on my stick burner and the smoke flavour is there, but I would like a little bit more of that. I don't have access to hickory or any other stronger woods here in Finland. Mainly been using oak (no idea about species), apple, alder, common aspen, and birch with bark removed.

[Puff]

I would think that greener wood will not give you the smoke other than bad smoke. I use only oak ...aged at least 1 year. The lump charcoal bed of about two full chimneys lies on the base and splits above it when it first gets burning. The smoke is very very very thin at the exhaust and looks only like heat distortion of the air column. I read that the meat takes on smoke up to the point of 140 degrees. My cook chamber runs around 240

[Rodcrafter]

I would agree with Puff, use only oak for the strongest flavor of what you have available


Making memories.

[Miles]

Hmm, my last try disappeared i'll try again.
What about Wild Cherry? I picked up a few chunks today while spending my shift cutting downed trees off the roads.
They looked like Birch to me when I first moved here but the locals tell me it's Wild Cherry.

[Puff]

http://www.ehow.com/how_6173452_identif ... trees.html

Check that link out... I'm glad I only have two types of trees here. Oak and oak

[mp4]

Did it smell good when you cut it down? That's the tell tale sign to me...

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G870A using Tapatalk

[Miles]

Wind at 48 MPH, trees cracking and limbs landing all around the truck, didn't stop to smell the bacon. I bucked and split a bit of it when I got home just as it was getting dark, smelled good, but so does the Alder.
I found a guy with a cord of Garry Oak over on the big island, I hope to go over on Monday and check it out. I will have to do some research into whether Garry Oak is good for smoking meat before then.

[bluecatfish]

Sometimes finding the right wood for smoking can be a problem. I have found the chart in the link below to be helpful.

http://www.deejayssmokepit.net/Download ... rChart.pdf

[Miles]

I got a chance to use the smoker last sunday. The plate I welded under the top of the open end of the cc did reduce the temp of the upper part of the cc. I cooked for three hours and the area above the upper grate stayed about 10 degrees cooler than the main grate. I forgot to take off the two inch addition I had bolted to the plate. The outside air temp was 31 degrees, that may be why the upper was cooler than the lower or due to the fact I left the two inch addition on. I will try again, when I get a chance, at a warmer air temp, then try with the two inch piece removed. So far I'm pleased with the mod.

I used two chimneys of charcoal for this cook adding a piece of alder every half hour or so. It worked well but the charcoal only lasted for the 3-1/2 to 4 hours I spent burning. That same amount of charcoal would last 10 hours in my smokey mountain cooker. I definitely think I need a source of good dry hardwood if I'm going to use this smoker. The oak over in Victoria was gone.

[Rodcrafter]

The comparison of a stick burner to a vertical is no comparison at all. The vertical is by far more efficient than the offset. But the offset has the complete combustion of an open burning wood fire that can't be achieved in a vertical.


Making memories.

[Miles]

Seems that way.
I'm a little disappointed the Alder is not working out as the source of heat, I have so much available. Maybe after it dries more I will get the blue smoke needed. I don't mind if I have to keep feeding it as long as I'm not spending more on wood than meat. The Alder gives a nice smokey flavour without overpowering the taste of the meat.
I should have the temp variations in the CC solved soon with the plate welded in place.

[Rodcrafter]

Are you placing the next splints of wood on top of the fire box to dry it out prior to tossing it into the fire? It makes a huge difference on how the wood burns if it isn't really dry.


Making memories.

[Puff]

That's a good tip from RC... Fortunately it doesn't work for me...it starts to ignites the wood after 10 minutes but I've tried placing green wood on the top of the fire box and it really helps to squeeze out moisture to a point

[Rodcrafter]

Puff, try putting a spacer like 1" above the top of the FB. You know like a cooking grate for the wood to sit on so it doesn't have direct contact to the FB.

jm2cw