Cold smoking in the PBC
I have run 2- 4hour test for cold smoking and 1 actual cold smoke of 3 lbs. of cheeses. I used my 12” Amaz N Tube smoker (AMTS) with pecan pellets for the actual cheese smoke. My test results proved interesting to say the least and taught me a bit more about the PBC.
I did my first cold smoke about 2 months ago with my Char Broil vertical gas smoker using wood chips and also the AMTS last month. The results were OK, but I discovered then smoke durations of over 3 hours were needed to give the cheese a real smoker flavor that permeates into the cheese.
In the PBC I performed the 2 test smokes using CharGriller pellets from Lowes. These pellets are a mix of 5 or 6 different woods, blended for quality and your smoked meat pleasure? And they were cheaper than the Traegar Pecan pellets.
The outside temperatures were 58- 63 degrees. And both test were run for 4 hours plus until the pellets burned out.
The first try was more about trying to figure out how the PBC would act and how it might respond to changing the configurations. I placed the lit AMTS in the empty charcoal basket with the open end of the AMTS facing the PBC bottom vent or air intake. My target temperature for the PBC had to be less than 90 deg. so the cheese would not melt during a real smoke. So, at 60 deg. ambient could I keep the PBC lower than 90 deg? The answer was NO. I had inside PBC temps at 133 deg. in the first half and hour and finally stabilized at 144 deg. I removed the top and the temps naturally lowered to 70 deg. as my smoke was billowing out. I put both rebar in and closed the top. Temps increased to about 125 deg. in about 10 minutes and still rising. I took aluminum foil and plugged the holes around each one of the rebar holes 1 by 1, and the more holes I covered the higher my temp’s raised, up to 150 deg. OK, that was not working. I had not moved the lower air vent from the ¼ open position and I thought I was getting good smoke which was fine air flow for the pellet burn, so opening the hole any larger would increase the burn rate and increase the temperatures inside the barrel. I got 2- 2lbs coffee cans filled them with ice cubes and ½ cold water and place them inside the PBC next to the tube smoker balancing on the charcoal basket wall and the PBC wall. This was an attempt to create a water pan effect. The hot air from the burning pellets still rises and the cold air from the water and ice filled coffee cans did not do much to cool the barrel. The temps inside the PBC were at 132 deg. Opened the lid half way after 45 minutes and the smoke was still billowing and I got the temp down to 105 deg. and losing a lot of smoke. 3 hours now I just placed the lid back on and let the pellets finish the burn to see how long it would burn. At 4 hours and 9 min. the cooker temps started dropping down and the smoke was barely rolling. I opened the lid and removed the 2 water filled coffee cans which had sweated down on the barrel side and the barrel bottom had a small puddle of water. Wiped out the barrel and let it dry out. End of 1st test.
Test #2 outside temperature was 56 deg. and would not increase over the next 4 hours. After the first test I looked at the data I had taken for the different barrel configurations on the first test and I believe that some way the burning pellets need some type of heat deflector to keep barrel temps lower. I built a tent out of HD aluminum foil which covered the length of tube smoker with maybe a 1 inch air gap above tube. Put in the test pellets and started #2 tests. The temps this time increased to 125 degrees during the first hour. I covered 3 of the rebar holes and open the top for about 5 minutes. Temps lowered to 74 deg. I replaced the top and the temps increased to 126 deg. so I removed the rebar hole plugs 1 at a time and the temps slowly started to recede and stabilized at 116 deg. OK, we are looking at progress. The pellet burn lasted 4hrs and 45 min. the last hour of smoke the barrel temps dropped to 94 deg. I feel now that somehow the heat needs to be deflected and keep the temps from building up in the top of the smoker. The rebar holes must not be blocked so the smoke and heat do not build up. Possibly a modified PBC top with a stack or adjustable vent may be the answer? Cooler outside ambient temps may work? But for practical use almost year round I will look at an external burn chamber with a hose or tube that will exhaust the smoke directly into the air intake vent on the PBC. More work needs to be done with that theory.
Daily temperature were expected to be no higher than 46 degrees. The real process now can be tested. 3+ lbs. of cheese will be smoked with Traegar Pecan pellets. Cheeses, 1 1/2lbs. of deli American cheese, 8 0z. of each Mozzarella, Monterey Jack and Gouda plus 3 small Colby- Cheddar Snack sticks, were opened and allowed to rest for 2 hours and form a skin on the cheese. The 3 small snack sticks I wanted to be used as test parts; if they start melting then it’s time to stop and regroup before this cheese smoke turns into cheese spread. The AMTS was tented again with HD foil and the cheese smoke process started at 1:10 PM. Ambient temp =45 deg. PBC temp =69 deg. Both rebar rods not installed.
1:35 PM -- PBC temp =76 deg.
1:55 PM -- PBC temp = 83 deg.
2:20 PM --( 1hr. 10 min. into the process) PBC temp = 97 deg. Opened the top ½ open to vent the heat –temps dropped to 69 deg. The smoke cleared enough to see the cheese was sweating, so I wiped the cheese dry and my 3 snack sticks did not show any signs of melting.
2:50 PM – 3:10 PM – - PBC temps = 76 to 98 deg. Ambient temp = 47 deg.
3:20 PM - - (2 hrs. + into the smoke) PBC Temp = 108 deg. I removed the top again checked the cheese. Again the cheese was starting to sweat and one of the snack sticks was getting a little soft. I removed the cheese to the house and wiped the cheese again, then covering it loosely with paper toweling. I also replaced the cover on the PBC to monitor the temps.
4:00 PM -- PBC temp = 94 deg. Ambient Temp = 45 deg.
4:20 PM -- PBC temp = 89 deg. Ambient Temp = 45 deg. PBC temperature dropping - 3 hrs. into the smoke? Decided to give it a go with the cheese again as long as smoke was still visible and temps were around 90 deg.
4:30 PM -- PBC temp= 88 deg. Ambient temp = 45 deg. Cheese placed back in the PBC. Would like to get another hours’ worth of smoke on this cheese.
5:05 PM -- PBC temp = 86 deg. Ambient temp = 45 deg. Smoke is still rolling.
5:35 PM -- PBC temp = 80 deg. Ambient temp = 44 deg. Smoke does not seem as thick now. 4 hours is about max for the 12“ AMTS. Why are PBC temps dropping since 4:00 PM? The pellet burn is coming to an end.
6:05 PM -- PBC temp = 71 deg. Ambient temp = 44 deg. Little puffs of smoke still visible, so I pulled the top and the remaining smoke exited the smoker. I ceased operations, pulled the cheese into the house to let it sit for an hour or so. The cheese was kind of brownish orange color the white cheeses were a buff color. The cheese did not show any signs of sweating and of course smelt smoky. I wrapped each piece of piece of cheese and labeled them all except one of the snack sticks. I vacuumed sealed all the wrapped cheese and stored in the refrigerator for 1 month before I will taste it. I did share the one snack sticks with the wife and we agreed it tasted OK.
To end this trial of the PBC cold smoke:
The actual cheese smoke process lasted 5 ½ Hours. Actual time that the cheese was in the smoke was about 3 ½ hours. The AMTS burned pellets for 5 ¾ hours. Sorry no pics of this work, only good cheese hopefully, by about April 18.
I believe that:
1. The PBC would have worked well as a cold smoker if the ambient temps were at 30 degrees or lower.
2. The foil tent over the AMTS helped to deflect some of the heat, and help to slow down the pellet burn.
3. The PBC cannot dissipate the heat without some outside help, like a vented top of such to help scrub off the heat.
4. The PBC can probably cold smoke in most temperature ranges under 70 degrees if cooler external smoke can be forced into the lower air vent or intake of the barrel. That would eliminate the heat source from the PBC.
5. My PBC with another couple test and a small modification, I believe will make my vertical gas smoker with the water pan, obsolete.
CM
