Elecrafter

If all goes well, I might drop by for an hour or two, but cant stay the weekend 😞 Elecrafter

Damn, I'm away that week. If that trip falls through, I would love to attend. Ele.

What / where is this? Got a Website address, All I keep getting is Deep Purple info. I think its not on for me, as I have a clashing event, assuming it goes ahead. Cheers Ele.

We are interested, but don't have any BBQ kit to take. Is there a communal pit / fire etc? Ele.

Looks good. Ive done Kielbasa a couple of times, both came out good. not much of it left in the freezer! Ele.

I'll second that. A mate (not on any of these forums) put me on to them. He runs an artisan sausage business as a hobby thing. He is an Theoretic Physics man and teaches. I've used the Weschenfelder Haggis kit and it turned out really well. Down to my last Haggis out of the 7 I got from a single Pluck. Ele.

Welcome, Wait until you have done cold smoked Salmon, and cheese, and...... You wont know what hit you! Ele.

Don't bin your fridge! Put a single tube greenhouse heater in it, put a PID on that and turn the whole fridge into a temp controlled Fermenting cupboard. Make some BEER or Cider to go with that Bacon! Its a good insulated box, and not to be wasted! Ele.

I have a couple of my barrel staves leant up against the radiator in the house drying out, and I keep my shavings in a sealed ammo can. Seems to work for me. The technicals of Fire is relatively simple. Its a Triangle, and each side is, Air/ Oxygen, then Fuel, and the third side is Heat. You take away anyone of those side and the triangle collapses and you don't have a fire. I learned that on a course at HMS Raleigh in the 70's where we learned how to put out a diesel fire with just a water extinguisher. Everyone these days says it cant be done! I think I would not want to try it in real life, but the principle worked. One of the most memorable days was the Fire Course and the Battle Damage Control in a gimballed tank with water pouring everywhere and the instructors turning out the lights and dropping thunderflashes in through holes and gratings. Wow... That takes me back to my younger days! Realistic, but fun at the same time as having a serious purpose too. Its something I've never forgotten. Ele.

My wife is allergic to my smoked nuts. 😞 Ele.

I used to use "Swimming Pool Filter Sand" which I got from an aggregate merchant, was cheaper than B&Q etc. Owner retired and business went downhill and eventually bust! Ele.

I have seen this sort of thing before. They probably don't have any in stock, so they put a daft price on it to deter actual sales, thus retaining their advert / listing without making any sales. Then the just alter the price when they have stock ready to sell. Its an old trick. I think it also saves them recurring listing fees. Ele.

Shortly I will be doing the Tempco 900w heater upgrade to my Bradley digi. I have noticed that many people do not insulate the power terminals leaving them open to be touched which is downright dangerous. So I have taken the plunge and bought some. Trouble is they come in packs of 10 and are not cheap. I only need two igloos and two caps. Leaving me with 4 sets of spares. The whole lot cost me £70, so if anyone wants a set to make their Tempco heater safe please PM me. They have the correct 10-32 thread for the Tempco terminal bolts. One set of two insulators and two caps will be £14 plus postage at cost. Its what they cost me, and I just want to recoup my overspend. Regards Ele.

Welcome Sean. I'm new here too. Just done my second smoke. 14 hours of Salmon, and damn its good. So get going and smoke some of your sausages! Then try something else. I make sausages too, only just started this year due to lockdown. Made some smoked Kielbasa last week and that turned out well. Have fun and enjoy your results. Ele.

I have a picture of my mates barcode on my phone, just offer it up to the scanner on the way in and use their hand held gun to scan the goods. He is a small one man consultancy, so is a low buyer. I help keep his account active! Toilet rolls, kitchen roll, dishwasher tablets are the star buys. Along with large tins of anchovies! Some things are cheaper in Tesco, so you need to watch the prices. Only rule is I pay for everything I get, namely not to bill him for my goods!! Ele.

Yet another update! I'm Cold Smoking Salmon and I've been bugged by 90F+ temperatures (in the smoker), so I ditched the pucks, and used a snail smoker. Whilst it dropped the temperature in the top of the cabinet to 70F, it keeps going out every 15-20mins. So now its dark, I have reverted to the Bradly Pucks. However I had a brainwave and pointed the fan I was removing the smoke from the garage at the Aluminium pipe from the smoker box to the cabinet. Within a few minutes the 90F+ had dropped to 80F, and has now settled out at a respectable 75F, which is great. I don't know why I didn't think of it earlier. Whilst I still have the expense of the Pucks, I am hoping to make my own. I think the problem of the snail going out was simply the oak barrel stave is damp. Anyway its getting late and the Salmon has been smoking for 12 hours. I'll give it a couple more and call it a day. I will need time to shut it all down, lock up and get the Salmon in the fridge tonight. So it looks like I might have solved my little problem. Just for fun, I added a bit of Cheddar, Brie, and a couple of Garlic bulbs so all that lovely smoke wont be wasted. I'm keeping an eye on it every 30 mins now, as I don't have any lights out there at the moment, as the Choke in the Light fitting exploded last year and I haven't replaced it! Yet another job to be done! Ele.

Hi, Welcome, I'm a newbie, hoping to learn. Ele.

I don't see why not. Mine had a medium charring on the inside and was in very good condition. Smelt good, but is a little damp for burning in the smoker. | suppose it depends on what you find out there. This chap has an industrial unit out on a farm, and had 50+ that I could see in the pile mine came from. It just depends on what people have. Mostly they are cutting them in half for garden planters (what a waste!). You would need to find a half decent one if you were going to store anything in it. Also they are quite big 800mm tall and 600mm at the widest. That's a lot of sherry! Trouble is new barrels are not cheap either. Ele.

I just looked on Facebook with a mileage limit, found mine 12 miles away. There seem to be plenty of places selling them. Certainly worth a look. It was still sealed up with sacking and wooden bungs in it. Quite a decent barrel, and certainly worth the money. Its making my electric plane grunt! Ele.

Daft old bugger!!! I forgot to put the garlic and cheese in this morning. They are in now, and should get at least 4 to 6 hours cold smoke. Ele.

Update..... Started at 07:30 this morning. Salmon hung and smoker started. Even with a bigger box, and a longer pipe I was getting 90 to 93F. After a couple of hours, and even with the door cracked open I was not happy. Expensive wood pucks, and high temperatures, well on the upper limit. So I dug out my square snail tray, planed down a stave from my old whiskey barrel and set it going. Much less smoke, but temp now 70F and steady. So I will keep an eye on that for a couple of hours to see what happens. 70F seems a lot better and nearer to cold smoke than what it was. The very thin edges of the Salmon are pink, like as in cooked, hope I haven't messed it up. I was looking at sawdust on Fleabay, £29 for 25kg. Then I read on a forum that even though they said 100% oak from their furniture business, they may have other wood and more to the point MDF or Chipboard in it which would be bad. So looking on Facebook I found a local company selling old whiskey barrels. £30 got me a barrel which weighed in at 55Kgs. So cheaper, AND whiskey soaked too. Shame there wasn't any liquid left in it! So I am trying that. I planed the outer surface off as it has been open to the air and weather. Got it down to clean wood, and soon filled the snail smoker. Just need to give it some time and see if that works. Using a Bluetooth Inkbird Ibbq2x dual probe thermometer £22 off Fleabay, and it shows the Bradley controls to be a bit off! The Bluetooth only just reaches the house from in the garage. Rain forecast today so got the smoker in the garage with doors open and a fan running to clear the smoke. Again not done that before, so I'll suck it and see. I'm just a bit cautious as there is £20 of Salmon in there. Keep you guys posted, and any tips are gratefully received. I'm learning, so need help! Cheers Ele.

Having bought the Bradley and being a general tightarse I was not going to pay out £120 for a tin box and a magic plug. So I started to build my own. Oh the Magic plug is a 2.5x2.1mm DC power plug with a 100k Ohm resistor across the terminals. Again all from my radio junk box! Stupidly I painted it as its only mild steel. Perhaps this was a not a good idea! I have heated the box up to dry the paint. I think it will just need a little time and some seasoning before its properly usable. Cost me £9 for the flexi pipe. The rest was lying around in the garage. Its not pretty, and needs a door catch to finish it, although a weight seems to have worked well. Certainly saving on the commercial offering! Ele.

I've just made a cock up. Got the Salmon, salted /cured and in the fridge last night. Then I remember <newbie head =ON> I dont have the Cold Smoke attachment for the Bradley. Sod paying £120!! I started making one this morning, and its now looking like I an not going to get it finished today. So far just cost me some sweat and elbow grease. Not quite finished yet. So how long can the Salmon stay in the fridge? Should I wash off the salt, or add more? Any tips on delaying the smoke would be appreciated. Ele.

Just been shopping and noticed Salmon Sides at £10 for a single side 1Kg Pack. I don't know if this is of interest to others, its usually about £15 ish per kg. Smoked salmon is £20/Kg, so guess where mine is going! Will be following Wades instructions! Ele.

I bought a second hand Bradley digital. Wasn't a real bargain as I had to replace a few parts that had rusted through. This was my first ever smoke, and Kielbasa seemed a simple recipe, plus I have the sausage making gear. Recipe was simply, shoulder pork, small bit of beef (abt 15%), salt, black pepper, Cure#1, marjoram, Garlic powder, sugar. I will vary the recipe next time. I made 1.8Kg after cooking. Basically 4 hours smoking, starting 130F, raising 20F every hour. Then poached in water at 165F for 40 mins. However, I found this still did not raise the IT to 165F, so increased the heat until it hit 170F IT for a while, then threw them in ice cold water to stop the cooking. Allowed them to dry out, fridge overnight, then vac pack and freeze the next day. There is enough to keep me in sausage for a few weeks. Really pleased with the outcome, especially a its my first attempt. Ele.