Today, I came across a couple topics about pucks, about making your own faux bubba pucks, ways to use wood chips in the Bradley, etc. I whipped up this design and thought I'd run it by folks. Do you think it would be useful? Would you buy one (or 10 :-)? I could send out an order for a few dozen or a few hundred with almost no additional effort. The price would probably be similar to what bubba pucks sell for, maybe a little lower if a bigger run was done. The material would be aluminum or stainless steel (SS is a little more $$). I'd be happy to take care of the manufacturing end and have Chez Bubba sell them if there's interest from him and other members here.
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From a business stand point I think Chez would have a problem with Bradley as Bradley is in the business of selling wood and not smokers as most would have someone to believe.
In my mind processing any wood so it will "burn" at the same level of the pucks would be challenging.
While your idea/ design looks good, I personally don't have the time to make my own pucks. This not to say the idea is not valid.
Olds
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I can see the benefit of these hollow pucks, and certainly would like to try them. Most of us apply smoke for 4 hours. That would mean there would be a need to have 12 of them, filled with the kind of wood/sawdust that we wanted to try smoking with. I think we would also have to have a larger water pan because these pucks would not disintergrate in the water like the BS pucks, and they would have to have some place to go.
I think they would work. Might need more holes in the bottom, but smallers ones so sawdust wouldn't gum stuff up when they are going through the chute and onto the hot plate. i don't think I would use them all the time because the BS bisquettes are just so easy to use (and I already have cases and cases of boxes of them), but I can see a benefit of using alternative woods once in awhile.
Keep up the innovative good work!
Bill
<i>There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.</i>
I had similar thoughts about needing a lot of them. I've spent some time working on a cheaper design for that reason. I'm having some software trouble now, but I'm hoping I can get another revision done soon. I thought more/smaller holes may be a good idea, so that's also one of the things I'm working on. Thanks for the input.
jb9 you might be on to something there but I think Olds is right about the Bradley thing. Computer makers don,t make money on the units but they rape you on the software (sorry Bradley). I wish I had time to make my own but that's a pipe dream for me. I'll just have to keep paying the forty bucks a box for now. Anyhow keep us posted on the design thing. Take care.[8D]
Big or small you can smoke'm all!!!
I am not sure that the 20 minute cycle time is enough to heat this puck and burn the chips. Since the Bradley Bisquettes are directly in contact with the heat source they burn clear through. I have not tried anything like this but would be curious to hear the results of a test.
Kind of been there and done that, but haven't tried holes or saw dust yet.
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That was my posting for half buck pucks. Make sure you get the test caps, although you could use regular 2" caps, cut to a height of 5/8" without having to use pipe. You really don't need perforated tops as long as you keep the level of chips or bisquette crumbs below the cup's rim, they can be stacked in the generator's magazine and seem to feed without problems.
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Cheers-Tom-
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Posted - 13 Dec 2005 : 16:04:18
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TomG,
Do your pucks work well? I have been trying to get some made and the best I could find was 2 and an eighth diameter, but I measured pucks this weekend and they appear to be a full 2 and a quarter.
I was concerned about making them smaller than normal, but perhaps this is needless concern.
whitetailfan
"Nice Rack"
Lethbridge, AB
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<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote">Posted - 13 Dec 2005 : 17:20:38
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Hi John, the 1/8" was a minor problem when I would stack 5 or more pucks in a row. So every 2 or 3 pucks I'll use either a bisquette or 5/8" slice from a standard 2" copper cap which has an OD of 2 1/4". As far as filling the pucks, I don't have a source for chips, but have pulverized pellets and used either crumbs or pieces of BS bisquettes. The latter burn well in both cold and hot smoking conditions. The pieces of pellet will only work well in 180-210* oven temps. What I haven't tried yet is priming the generator ramp with three slices(rings)from the standard cap and filling them with pellets which would come in direct contact with the generators heating element. My original intent was just to make an inexpensive pair of metal blanks which would allow for complete burning of the last two bisquettes.The project has obviously become a work in progress and since the costs of materials, necessary tools( a tube cutter or hacksaw),and fabrication time are minimal, lends itself to relatively easy experimentation.
Hope that helps-Tom-
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Here's a puck, the same size as a bisquette(2 1/4ODx5/8")that almost anyone can make with a $3 copper plumbing cap, a hacksaw, and an electric drill.
Smoke on-Tom-
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I've been having fun designing stuff, but only spent a little time on this. I managed to finish a new version today. I focused on making the walls thinner (cheaper) and making more, smaller holes. I removed the ridges from the bottom. I figure it doesn't need too much airflow and the holes may be enough to get some air through. I don't have a feel for what kind of wood people would want to put in them, so help determining the size of holes is important.
The outside diameter is 2.25" and it's 0.55" inches tall. I had a hard time determining the optimal height. Anyone have a better idea than me? It seems 0.5" might work, but is borderline too short.
By the way, anyone want an anodized aluminum checkers set? It's really light and only a few hundred dollars :-)
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Where I might see the value in this is not as a holder for loose wood that is place on the burner, but a mold to create your own pucks. For example: Whenever I want to smoke a little something or other using Grapefruit or Orange woods I cannot do it in the bradley.
Olds
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Good idea on the mold thing Olds. Has anyone come up with a doable binding agent yet to hold the saw dust together? I tried wetting the saw dust and putting it in a tube and compressing it in my hydralic press and letting it dry. I think I'm real close there but not perfect. It still needs help holding together.[V]
Big or small you can smoke'm all!!!
Iceman...might try some glycerine as a binding agent. Haven't tried it, but heard that might be the binding agent.
Bill
<i>There is room on earth for all God's creatures....on my plate next to the mashed potatoes.</i>
I think someone else suggested gelatin. Here's a link for reasonably priced saw dust. http://www.butcher-packer.com/pg_smoking_hickory_sawdust.htm
The other problem is finding a mold or extruder that will form "bisquettes" with an OD of 2 1/4".
Thanks Bill. Where would I start looking to find glycerine? I'm lost in a snowbank on that one.[:0] Also concerned that geletin would leave some residue. I'm not familiar with the stuff but heck I'll try it once. Is that the kind used in baking Tom?[?]
Big or small you can smoke'm all!!!
Glycerine can be found at any drug/pharmacy store
Iceman, It's the the main ingredient in jello. The Knox brand is found in almost any food market.
How about egg white?[}:)]
Hi All
I have read with some interest the posts and replies on puck making.
As I am new to all this and some has been over my head but the more I read the more I learn.
What I would like to ask is what is the binding agent and has any one tried it ???
I have oak sawdust and chips a plenty. I produce about 2 ton a week all English oak and to buy the ready made pucks is a bit of a sore point. So How can I make my own.
If any one would like free Oak Chips you are most welcome to come and help yourself. I am base in Shropshire.
I would guess to say that it will take a little more than non-flavored gelatine and a mold to make a successful puck. Put some of the Bradley wood pieces under a low power microscope. Then look at your saw dust. Next Oak is a hard wood, but if you take a couple of piece of the Bradley Oak and bite down on it you will find that it is not really hard. It is more like a sponge in that you can easily compress it.
Perhaps this comes from the wood being soaked in gelatine or perhaps Bradley has a method of "opening" up the wood. This might be something as simply a soaking the wood in water. Then speed drying it, and then re-soaking/ drying. Again, without a doubt the Bradley pieces are not hard but quite compressible.
I believe it is this expanse in the structure of the wood that allows for a complete <b>even</b> burn within the 20 minute cycle. I base this on this my observations that when the Bradley puck is through burning there is no more ash on the bottom of the puck then the top. If someone turned it upside down without you looking other than the leading edge you could not tell which side had been against the burner.
It will be interesting to see which member here can create a successful puck. It will further be interesting to see it done in a timely manner to justify the labor verse the monies spent on a Bradley puck. Personally I will just stick with the Bradley puck. Maybe one day he will create on made out of citrus wood. [:D]
Olds
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I'm glad people are working on making pucks. I also plan on figuring this out. I'm sure that Bradley isn't happy. They've figured out a way to turn 20 cents of product into $15. It's the same with jerky seasonings - take 10 cents worth of salt, 10 cents worth of spices, mix them up and they are worth 5 bucks. That being said, Bradley makes great products but I think the pucks are a bit overpriced.
Interesting reading. I'm working on a new version of a puck design. I'll try to get details up later today.
I wonder if they have a process of steaming the wood that causes some of those changes. It's probably pretty simple, whatever it is.
Probably an important thing to remember is the pucks don't have to look like original bradley pucks, they only have to make enough smoke without excessive ash.
As a side note, I can see how Bradley wouldn't be too excited about such a thing, but you have to expect a bit of that to happen when you make all your profit on consumables. I work for a gigantic, multinational IT solutions provider and last I heard, about 60% of our profit comes from ink cartridges. If there was no reman/refill market we'd make more, but we do fine the way it is.
I want whiskey barrel pucks[:D].
Jeff
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Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
I would like diamond willow please! [:p] [:p] [:p]
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<br />I want whiskey barrel pucks[:D].
Jeff
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(//www.bbqshopping.com)
Some say BBQ is in your blood, if thats true my blood must be BBQ sauce.
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I second that!!!
John
Newton MA
Iam currently making my own pucks . have not bought pucks since my first batch of 60. I am fortunae in the fact I have some wood working tools and most machining tools at work . I started with OAK saw dust and hydralicly compressing it worked just o usable but only with in 6 hours as I found oak once compressed eventualy expands back some . I currently am runing green apple wood through the wood jointer letting it dry for a month then sending through my old meat grinder for consistant small chips then into my hydralic compresser . very very good pucks now . currently have hicory drying . once I have my wood chips made I can turn out about a puck a minute in the press.. a lot of time yes .worth selling to others . no . but to me worth the effort for personal use . I do not use any binders .and it dont seem to work damp.and I get a full burn... I was planning on sending OLDS some free samples of my apple wood after christmas when he lets me know how the Ts13101 control is going to last in Norberts rig . later
If ya go home hungry.........You were at the WRONG HOUSE !
Good show Headgames. How much pressure are you using and do you have any idea how much each puck weighs?
-Tom-
damn never thought about weighing them . will check when I get back to the states . but I am compressing about 1 1/2 inches of chips in 1/2 inch . and there is no pressure gauge on the hydralic ram . which is on the side of a exhaust bending machine . Its the ram used for expanding the tubing to a larger size. only comment I can make is they are SOLID but they fully burn.[:D]
If ya go home hungry.........You were at the WRONG HOUSE !