Just a couple of questions.

[Squiggle]

Made some more progress today, getting close now! Hopefully be able to season it tomorrow.

I made the chimney & the plate to block the freezer hole, welded them together & fitted them.



Also, stuffed the cavity with insulation & fitted the backing plate(had to make it two piece cause I couldn't fit it past the bends). Put on the cap too.



Put the insulation around the sides & welded in the last part of the funnel part.



Made the pan to put the wood chips in out of 10mm & welded on a door handle from an old wood fire heater



Lastly, picked up some aged cherry wood for the first run of trout(just have to catch some now). I have a couple of other little things to button up but I should be able to fire it up tomorrow to season it, I'll let you guys know the numbers when I do.

[Pete Mazz]

That wood looks a little too far gone. I'd recommend some fresher stuff.

[Squiggle]

Oh ok, it's still got a nice colour in the center. Oh well, I'll pick up some more tomorrow, thanks for the tip!

[Pete Mazz]

I'm in the same boat. A buddy said he had some Hickory for me but it was half dead.

[Squiggle]

So what is the perfect age for wood? I thought it had to be aged so it wasn't wet?

[Pete Mazz]

Seasoned but not rotted. If it's got big splits or the bark is falling off it's probably too far gone.

[Rodcrafter]

Yep and even wood that has been around for a while can have moisture in it.


Making memories.

[Squiggle]

Thanks for that, so what do you look for & how do you know if the wood is ready to use? What does the perfect wood look like?

[Squiggle]

I got some other wood today & fired it up, sprayed the inside with a good coating of spray oil & let her go. Everything was going nicely until the temp got to about 105C & the wood caught on fire, lol. No big deal, just pulled the pan out, emptied it & chucked in some more chunks. I turned the dial down to 3 & it stayed solid at about 65-68C, perfect for fish.

Now I've just got to go catch some for it, probably the hardest part of the whole job, lol.

Still have a couple of things to button up, but they don't affect the running of it.

[Rodcrafter]

I would burn it hotter than you would ever cook in it for the seasoning process. This will burn out any stuff you don't want on your fish. Maybe I missed it but is that an electric burner? I only asked because I'm surprised it set the wood on fire through that plate.

jm2cw

[Pete Mazz]

Nice!

Now go get some fish!

[Squiggle]

Nice!

Now go get some fish!

Thanks, that's the plan. Might try & go for a flick today.

I would burn it hotter than you would ever cook in it for the seasoning process. This will burn out any stuff you don't want on your fish. Maybe I missed it but is that an electric burner? I only asked because I'm surprised it set the wood on fire through that plate.

jm2cw

Thanks for the tip, it did get to about 120c(250F) when the chunks caught, but it wasn't for long. Might fire it up again today & dump the wood when it gets up high & just let the temp stay there a while.

Yeah it's electric, I'm using a 1500w portable hot plate, takes about an hour to get up to temp. Here's a screen shot of the iGrill just before it caught, forgot to take one after, doh!

[Rodcrafter]

[Squiggle]

Today's test went well, held 65-67C(150F) for 5 hours, just wasn't producing much smoke. I'm going to have a play around with a temp controller I have so when the heat is on it will be full heat, not 2/3, & maybe then it will produce a more consistent amount of smoke, any thoughts?

[Pete Mazz]

When I run my electric hotplate I turn it up high to get the smoker warmed up and the wood smoking. After turning it down it always kept producing smoke. This was using the cast iron skillet.

[Squiggle]

I'll give that a crack tomorrow, I'm sure my pan will do the same(made it out of 10mm plate), thanks for the tip!

[Rodcrafter]

I find that food taste better to more people with less smoke. Even though I'm using a stick burner I like it best when I really don't see smoke. It is there even if you can't see it if the wood is being consumed.


Making memories.

[Squiggle]

You make an excellent point RC, I noticed yesterday after I finished that the inside still smelt very smokey, even though there wasn't much smoke to be seen.

[Rodcrafter]

That truly is the goal, you may have to just trust me on that point.


Making memories.

[Pete Mazz]

That's why they call it the thin blue smoke.

[forty_creek]

Yep! It's direct opposite of what many believe. A lot of smoke no good. Nice see-thru blue is money


Drankin, Smokin and Dreamin

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Squiggle]

Thanks guys, this is the kind of info you just can't buy in a store!

[Squiggle]

After playing around with my smoker for the last few days, testing temps & stuff, I finally finished it by making the drip pan.





I also got a couple of salmon fillets & brined them over night in salt & sugar, then dried them off & sprinkled brown sugar on them before whacking them in at 65-70C for about 6 hrs until the internal temp got to 60C. My missus took them off & put them in the fridge, cause I was at work, & when I get home we tasted them, absolutely beautiful!! Sweet & salty, with a little smokey bitterness, definitely a great success & I'm going out today to try & catch some more fish, hopefully get my bag of trout.

[Rodcrafter]

That is why we do this stuff.


Making memories.

[Squiggle]

Well, I finally went for another flick today & had some great success, caught 2 6lb fish, one Atlantic salmon & one steelhead. I was pretty stoked & couldn't wait to fillet them & whack them in the smoker.



The four fillets ended up being about 1kg(2.2lb) each. I brined them overnight, dried them off & let them pellicle. Then I covered them in brown sugar & put them in the smoker at 65C.



After about 6.5hrs they reached an internal temp of 57C, a bit lower than the last ones. Took them off &, again, absolutely beautiful! A bit softer than the last ones, but still very tasty.