Smokin-It User Forum!
Recipes => Jerky => Topic started by: Teejilla on February 08, 2018, 08:18:04 PM
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I've been trying to buy a James jerky drier for a while but its perpetually out of stock. Does anyone know of any good alternatives?
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I am not aware of any substitute. Maybe a low voltage computer fan? Did Steve give you any idea when it will be back in stock?
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I was looking at this one.
http://www.alliedkenco.com/vent-power-11512volt.aspx
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At $160.00 I would wait till Steve gets more in. His price is much better.
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I called Steve a few weeks ago and he said the Jerky Dryer will be available the beginning of Feb. As of today its still out of stock. >:(
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I don't think I would pay that hefty price either. Heck, I think $99.99 is pretty high too, but I still bought one. ;)
In the short term, you could very easily make one with a computer fan like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-SickleFlow-120-Radiators/dp/B0026ZPFCK/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518189210&sr=1-10&keywords=computer+fan
All you would have to do is built a basic square box maybe 4" high or so and add this fan inside the top.
If you are not comfortable with some basic wiring to add an AC plug to the fan, you could go with something like this that already has the AC plug attached:
https://www.amazon.com/Zhanye-Muffin-Computer-Cooling-Exhaust/dp/B076H3HYX8/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518193157&sr=1-6&keywords=computer+fan
I have thought about building something like this for when I smoke cheese and am having trouble keeping my AMNPS lit. I think I would add a switch that would let me increase and decrease the speed of the fan too. This is on my to-do list down the road. :)
But, I would call or shoot Steve a text at 260-417-9951 or send him an email to smokin.it.info@gmail.com to ask when he expects them to be in. If he was expecting them at the beginning of February, I would think he would have a better idea now versus a few weeks ago as to when they will be coming in.
Good luck!
Koze
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I don't think I would pay that hefty price either. Heck, I think $99.99 is pretty high too, but I still bought one. ;)
In the short term, you could very easily make one with a computer fan like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-SickleFlow-120-Radiators/dp/B0026ZPFCK/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518189210&sr=1-10&keywords=computer+fan
All you would have to do is built a basic square box maybe 4" high or so and add this fan inside the top.
If you are not comfortable with some basic wiring to add an AC plug to the fan, you could go with something like this that already has the AC plug attached:
https://www.amazon.com/Zhanye-Muffin-Computer-Cooling-Exhaust/dp/B076H3HYX8/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518193157&sr=1-6&keywords=computer+fan
I have thought about building something like this for when I smoke cheese and am having trouble keeping my AMNPS lit. I think I would add a switch that would let me increase and decrease the speed of the fan too. This is on my to-do list down the road. :)
But, I would call or shoot Steve a text at 260-417-9951 or send him an email to smokin.it.info@gmail.com to ask when he expects them to be in. If he was expecting them at the beginning of February, I would think he would have a better idea now versus a few weeks ago as to when they will be coming in.
Good luck!
Koze
Gregg, double check your links again. I believe they are both the same fan.
Grampy
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I don't think I would pay that hefty price either. Heck, I think $99.99 is pretty high too, but I still bought one. ;)
In the short term, you could very easily make one with a computer fan like this one:
https://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-SickleFlow-120-Radiators/dp/B0026ZPFCK/ref=sr_1_10?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518189210&sr=1-10&keywords=computer+fan
All you would have to do is built a basic square box maybe 4" high or so and add this fan inside the top.
If you are not comfortable with some basic wiring to add an AC plug to the fan, you could go with something like this that already has the AC plug attached:
https://www.amazon.com/Zhanye-Muffin-Computer-Cooling-Exhaust/dp/B076H3HYX8/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518193157&sr=1-6&keywords=computer+fan
I have thought about building something like this for when I smoke cheese and am having trouble keeping my AMNPS lit. I think I would add a switch that would let me increase and decrease the speed of the fan too. This is on my to-do list down the road. :)
But, I would call or shoot Steve a text at 260-417-9951 or send him an email to smokin.it.info@gmail.com to ask when he expects them to be in. If he was expecting them at the beginning of February, I would think he would have a better idea now versus a few weeks ago as to when they will be coming in.
Good luck!
Koze
Gregg, double check your links again. I believe they are both the same fan.
Grampy
Thanks, Grampy! I missed that.
I fixed the links in the original post, but here is the link for the fan that comes with the AC cord:
https://www.amazon.com/Zhanye-Muffin-Computer-Cooling-Exhaust/dp/B076H3HYX8/ref=sr_1_6?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1518193157&sr=1-6&keywords=computer+fan
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I would think someone with a HVAC background (or an HVAC supply company) could resolve this quickly. A variable speed fan built into ductwork seems like something that should be available for that purpose.
Maybe something like this with a short piece of 4" ducting attached ...
https://www.amazon.com/gp/slredirect/picassoRedirect.html/ref=sspa_dk_detail_2?ie=UTF8&adId=A004697310H9SI6T022BK&qualifier=1518211127&id=6996741904366356&widgetName=sp_detail&url=%2Fdp%2FB07741M53K%2Fref%3Dsspa_dk_detail_2%3Fpsc%3D1%26pd_rd_i%3DB07741M53K%26pd_rd_wg%3DAW7Ju%26pd_rd_r%3DGT1DH0GC0A2S513JPME1%26pd_rd_w%3Da1KhW
Or this for less than $20...
https://www.amazon.com/iPower-Booster-Inline-Exhaust-Grounded/dp/B00CQBFOTS/ref=pd_day0_328_1?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B00CQBFOTS&pd_rd_r=0TDYTE4GGDY4C7R6V15R&pd_rd_w=5lLvu&pd_rd_wg=5YdkP&psc=1&refRID=0TDYTE4GGDY4C7R6V15R
A variable speed controller, like this, could be added for less than $15....
https://www.amazon.com/gp/slredirect/picassoRedirect.html/ref=sspa_dk_detail_1?ie=UTF8&adId=A06779753FOYI73QQODDQ&qualifier=1518211507&id=8734877475278756&widgetName=sp_detail&url=%2Fdp%2FB0742Z5SH9%2Fref%3Dsspa_dk_detail_1%3Fpsc%3D1%26pd_rd_i%3DB0742Z5SH9%26pd_rd_wg%3DuXgfU%26pd_rd_r%3DNZSKHYKXWEHMFVAD05CF%26pd_rd_w%3DL5FK3
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Hey Tejilla, Welcome! I see you're new around here. Head over to the Introductions section and tell us about yourself! We love to know the new folks we're helping.
Personally, I would just wait the short amount of time to get the James dryer. It not only works great, it looks good, and is backed by a great company! Lots cheaper than your alternative, too!
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I heard it was going to be early march for the Jerky Dryer.
He's something I was going to try.
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OXDAWY?ref=emc_b_5_t
This fan here is closer to the CFM of an 80mm case fan out of a computer (Which is typically around 33-37) This one is 37.
If you want a bit more airflow you can try this. (47 CFM)
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B009OXMZ3Y?ref=emc_b_5_t
I was then going to find some 4in PVC Pipe and put that under the fan and see if I can get a good fit. If not PVC then maybe I'll try something else. I'll have to experiment a bit. The fan is 3.6in in diameter.
The fan's pretty cheap and PVC Pipe is cheap as well, so I'll see how it goes.
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Sounds like a fun inexpensive project. Make sure you take lots of pictures and let us know how it goes.
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Sounds like a fun inexpensive project. Make sure you take lots of pictures and let us know how it goes.
Will do!
I have the fan coming in Wednesday, so I'll see how it goes.
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I was then going to find some PVC Pipe and put that under the fan right where the grate is and see if I can get a good fit.
Duck, forgive me if I have misunderstood what you are talking about. Are you talking about putting the piece of PVC pipe on the inside of the smoker on the top grate under the vent hole? What would be the purpose for doing that?
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I was then going to find some PVC Pipe and put that under the fan right where the grate is and see if I can get a good fit.
Duck, forgive me if I have misunderstood what you are talking about. Are you talking about putting the piece of PVC pipe on the inside of the smoker on the top grate under the vent hole? What would be the purpose for doing that?
Sorry, what I mean was to put the PVC pipe on top of the smoker (Where the hole is) and put the fan on top of the pipe. Basically a smoke stack, kind of like how the Jerky Dryer works. The 4in pipe is bigger than the fan, so I'll have to figure out how to make it fit. (Or use a different material)
When I said grate, I was referring to the grate on the fan. Sorry. :-D I edited my post to hopefully make it more clear.
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Duck, thanks for the clarification. That makes much more sense to me now. :o
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You could put a flat PVC end-cap (http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/650x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/2/-/2-inch-cap-front_2_1.jpg) on the bottom and then drill a hold in it just big enough to fit around the smoker blowhole and it would look/work similar to the Smokin-It drier bottom. I am not sure if this is necessary or not, but it would help prevent leakage from around the base of the PVC.
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You could put a flat PVC end-cap (http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/650x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/2/-/2-inch-cap-front_2_1.jpg) on the bottom and then drill a hold in it just big enough to fit around the smoker blowhole and it would look/work similar to the Smokin-It drier bottom. I am not sure if this is necessary or not, but it would help prevent leakage from around the base of the PVC.
Thanks!
Yeah I was trying to think how I would get a good air seal on the bottom without using something like tape. I was pondering using some of my kids silly putty along the bottom around the PVC since I could easily remove it. :-D
Not sure what I'm going to end up doing though.
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You could put a flat PVC end-cap (http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/650x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/2/-/2-inch-cap-front_2_1.jpg) on the bottom and then drill a hold in it just big enough to fit around the smoker blowhole and it would look/work similar to the Smokin-It drier bottom. I am not sure if this is necessary or not, but it would help prevent leakage from around the base of the PVC.
Thanks!
Yeah I was trying to think how I would get a good air seal on the bottom without using something like tape. I was pondering using some of my kids silly putty along the bottom around the PVC since I could easily remove it. :-D
Not sure what I'm going to end up doing though.
It is not like it has to be super-sealed. But, you just need to have enough so that the suction from the fan is not affected. This idea just came to me because that is pretty much how the James Jerky Drier works as noted from the highlighted attached picture of the bottom section of the James Jerky Drier.
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You could put a flat PVC end-cap (http://www.pvcfittingsonline.com/media/catalog/product/cache/1/image/650x/040ec09b1e35df139433887a97daa66f/2/-/2-inch-cap-front_2_1.jpg) on the bottom and then drill a hold in it just big enough to fit around the smoker blowhole and it would look/work similar to the Smokin-It drier bottom. I am not sure if this is necessary or not, but it would help prevent leakage from around the base of the PVC.
Thanks!
Yeah I was trying to think how I would get a good air seal on the bottom without using something like tape. I was pondering using some of my kids silly putty along the bottom around the PVC since I could easily remove it. :-D
Not sure what I'm going to end up doing though.
It is not like it has to be super-sealed. But, you just need to have enough so that the suction from the fan is not affected. This idea just came to me because that is pretty much how the James Jerky Drier works as noted from the highlighted attached picture of the bottom section of the James Jerky Drier.
Yup, good point. I have a few ideas but I'll need to wait until I get the parts to see if it's really going to work. It's a bit more work, but it will look a lot cleaner than something like a silly putty idea.
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All done!
(Quick disclaimer: I support Smokin-It products, and I feel bad posting cheaper solutions to their products, so hopefully this doesn't break any rules. I'm just impatient and I wanted to make some jerky this weekend as opposed to waiting for the jerky dryers to be in stock again. That and I felt like sharing this.)
Okay, I'm not a DIY'er. Actually I hate DIY stuff, but this was pretty easy, and cost me about $30 bucks. So here we go.
I started with a 4 inch PVC pipe. You can pick one up here:
https://www.lowes.com/pd/Charlotte-Pipe-4-in-x-2-ft-Sch-40-Cellcore-PVC-DWV-Pipe/3223375
I then got 2 sheets of Acrylic.
https://www.lowes.com/pd/OPTIX-0-08-in-x-8-in-x-10-in-Clear-Acrylic-Sheet/3143395
This acrylic is safe to use around 175 degrees. Considering that the top of the smoker doesn't really get that hot to the touch, I think this will be fine.
Lastly I got this 37CFM fan:
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B009OXDAWY/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
This fan is metal and appears to be well built. It's not like a cheap plastic case fan. If you want a higher CFM, you can scroll down and the same manufacturer makes a higher powered fan. (47 CFM)
What I did was cut 6 inches off the PVC pipe, and cut a 5 inch by 5 inch piece of acrylic and mount that on the bottom of the pipe using some caulk I had leftover. From there I cut a small hole in the acrylic that would fit over the little smoke hole on the smoker. I'm not sure the exact measurement, I just hand drew it and it came out really well. This will allow for a good seal while sitting on the smoker.
I then cut a 5 1/2 inch by 5 1/2 inch acrylic sheet for the top. Before mounting it on the PVC pipe, I mounted the fan on the acrylic sheet. Once it was mounted I used a Dremel to cut a hole for the fan. Once that was done, I mounted the acrylic sheet to the top and that was it!
Because I had some caulk, and tools, this project set me back about 30 bucks. It's not the prettiest job, but it looks like it will get the job done.
I did run the fan and see what kind of airflow I could get from the smoker. Holding up a papertowel under the smoke hole on the inside, I could tell there was good air circulation.
I'm going to make some jerky this weekend to see how it goes, but I'm feeling pretty good about this. One modification I will make is a cover for the fan to keep stuff out of it.
I've heard that some folks who used the duct fan (Around 67 CFM) said the air-flow might be too high, so I'm hoping this 37 CFM fan will work well.
Feedback is always welcome. I suck a DIY stuff so forgive my shoddy work!
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Nicely done!
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The only thing I would suggest, Duck, would be a filter. The SI fans have a filter that looks like a metal mesh material. I think you may regret not having some kind of a filter because it will keep the moisture and smoke residue off of your fan.
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The only thing I would suggest, Duck, would be a filter. The SI fans have a filter that looks like a metal mesh material. I think you may regret not having some kind of a filter because it will keep the moisture and smoke residue off of your fan.
Yeah I was thinking about that as well. This fan is supposed to be able to take a beating, but I guess we will see. The bottom side of it appears protected from build up and stuff, but only time will tell how well it holds up.
Anywho, first batch is done! I did some 1/4 inch Eye of Round strips, and just made a small batch to start with. I threw it in the smoker for 6 hours, and I had the temp set to around 160. Temperature fluctuations were going from 145 to 175. A bit much, but I think if I had more meat in there, the temps would have been more consistent. I also had to run the meat thermo to measure the box temperature under my fan. Didn't cause any problem, still had good circulation.
The meat came out great though. Good flavor, and dried up nicely. The fan did an awesome job.
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Seems like your project and the resulting jersey were both successful..Congrats! Was the jersey as tasty as it looks?
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Nicely-done, Duck!! :)
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Seems like your project and the resulting jersey were both successful..Congrats! Was the jersey as tasty as it looks?
Yes! It came out perfectly. Going to wait until that meat is on sale and do a much larger batch.
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I love that!
I was wondering when the jerky drier would be in stock and would also be impatient.
I have a dehydrator, so for now, will smoke meat for jerky and then put it on my dehydrator. But I know my son would love to make something like this!
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You can find 3D printed 4" adapters that directly mount to a 120mm computer fan. They cost about $10. I have one for my coffee roaster and they work great and are made out of nylon so they can withstand about 400deg.
Here is an example of one....I may try this myself
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antminer-S1-S3-S5-S7-S9-T9-L3-120mm-Fan-Duct-Cooling-Shroud-to-4-Inch-Vent/292495723309?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D65ea2bbee6c441afa2c4f34663236df7%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D30%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D173207122609%26itm%3D292495723309&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598
-Mark
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I have one for my coffee roaster
Hello, fellow coffee roaster! Maybe I'll go start a thread in the anything goes channel and we can see who is does or might roast coffee on here. :)
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I have one for my coffee roaster
Hello, fellow coffee roaster! Maybe I'll go start a thread in the anything goes channel and we can see who is does or might roast coffee on here. :)
Not a bad idea, LarryD! Yeah I have been roasting for about 12 years. First with a popcorn popper, then a turbo oven, then a Behmor 1600, now an Aillio Bullet.
-Mark
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You can find 3D printed 4" adapters that directly mount to a 120mm computer fan. They cost about $10. I have one for my coffee roaster and they work great and are made out of nylon so they can withstand about 400deg.
Here is an example of one....I may try this myself
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Antminer-S1-S3-S5-S7-S9-T9-L3-120mm-Fan-Duct-Cooling-Shroud-to-4-Inch-Vent/292495723309?_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIM.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908110712%26meid%3D65ea2bbee6c441afa2c4f34663236df7%26pid%3D100677%26rk%3D6%26rkt%3D30%26mehot%3Dlo%26sd%3D173207122609%26itm%3D292495723309&_trksid=p2385738.c100677.m4598
-Mark
So I ended up getting this 3D printed adapter, and also purchased this 120mm muffin fan with variable speed controller. It mounted perfectly and is currently running my first batch of jerky. Will see how it turns out in a couple hours.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07B42G3QN/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o05_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1
-Mark
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Great ideas and I appreciate all the ingenuity! FWIW, I did finally order and receive my JJD and I love it! Getting ready to go get some top round for my fifth batch :D
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So how did it work out? I'm hoping to make venison jerky soon and looking for fan/dryer ideas