Lowest temp possible in #2?

[jbauch357]

Doing a dry run before tossing fish in my #2 with stock controller bypass and tuned Auber.  I set the temp for 140 degrees at 4hrs, but the controller is allowing the temp to creep all the way up to 150 before reducing heat element cycle enough to drop temps back down.

I'm using dry alder chips and the chip tray, smoke production is basically zero when set to 140.  I'll play with either going with finer chips, removing the chip tray, or upping temperature.

The goal is the lowest maintained temperature with decent smoke production.  Anyway, I'm kind of using the forum as my smoking diary at this point so I can't lose the details - but I am still plenty open to comments and suggestions.

I realize there are cold smoking accessories out there, but my current goal is to see the min sustainable smoking temperature.

 

[NDKoze]

As long as the chips are of decent size where they won't fall through the holes in the smoke box, I would try without the chip tray.

If you have a jerky fan, a little more air flow moving through the smoker will help too.

Also, as you mentioned there are several cold smoke accessories available. I have tested the A-MAZE-N AMNPS and just recently received but have not yet tested the AMNTS tube smoker which is tested so that it can be used in up to 275 degree smokers. As expected the A-MAZE-N smokers are tough to keep lit without a good wind blowing to keep air moving through the smoker or a jerky dryer.

 

[Pork Belly]

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[*]Leave the chip tray in but use small dry chips
[*]Leave the door open, crank the heat until you see good smoke then back it down to 100 close door
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Set temp to 100 and come back later. This method works well for me. In the heat of summer while in direct sun I had a temp spike to 150 but typically box temp is 104 to120. Not exact enough for cheese but very acceptable for jerky or fish.

 

[tnlyne]

When I first read this subject I thought it pertained to ambient air temp smoking... You Michigan folk should come here and try it today:

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[jbauch357]

Thanks for the recommendations, I was playing with the idea of setting the temp to 200 or so until smoke started rolling then opening the door and setting it back down to ~140.

I'm also wondering if a box fan underneath the smoker gently blowing air up through the drip hole would increase circulation enough to reduce the temps a bit.

Fish goes into brine tonight and will get smoked tomorrow or Sun, so we'll find out soon enough.

 

[Pork Belly]

I wouldn't get the wood smoldering with the door closed do it fully open. The smoker is too well insulated to shed the heat that is built up. When I have done this the element gets glowing orange with good smoke, I cut the control down and the element immediately starts cooling. I leave the door gaped for a few minutes then seal it up. Jerky can handle a heat spike or a hot start, fish less so, you could change the texture and appearance greatly.

 

[jbauch357]

After thinking about this a bit more I agree on leaving the door wide open, then closing it once the smoke is rolling.

I want good smoke production but a lower than goal temperature cabin, so the Auber can control temperatures based on both the heat from the chips as well as the element.  This should ideally keep the smoke rolling and the temp from spiking up into dangerous territory. 

180 is where I start to get fat bubbles, so I want to stay at least under 170, but the colder the better all the way down to 140 or so.