Homemade "pucks"/smoker tablets

[Quarlow]

Looking good Foodie.

[Foodie]

Phew! Have to call it a day on these guys for now.
I wasn't happy with the bind on my first lot - good news is that the dried pucks reconstitute easily and can be re-done.
I will go for 50grm Agar next time.

I am not very happy with my Apple sawdust - in the pick below is my sheoak, apple and a BS puck (left to right)
The apple sawdust is a bit chunky looking to me - and I am wondering if it will auto-load smoothly or get jammed. Sigh...it's a learning curve 4 sure!  ???

I will run my batch thru the puck feeder tomorrow and see how many rejects I get. The diameter is good - but the height likely has to be quite close to the BS pucks. The weights of all 3 very close now (1-2grm difference)

I guess I could run my apple sawdust thru my spare blender - but was hoping to avoid too much mucking about.
Looking forward to making my wine barrel shavings ones 2morrow! (for cheese) yum  :)

[Sailor]

Not sure, as I am just guessing.  To me it looks like the Bradley pucks are more compressed.  I would think that in mass production they would be using a hydraulic press which would really put the pressure to it compared to fingers trying to press.  I think you said you were going to have some items fabricated.  What if you fabricate a hand operated crusher kinda like a beer can crusher that will fit inside the die of the puck and you load it with your mix then pull down on the handle and it compresses the puck to the height the puck needs to me and it will compact the heck out of the dust.  I'm not an engineer but in my minds eye it looks like that would be the ticket.

[Foodie]

That's one way to go about it Sailor - good thinking  :) It wouldn't need to be anything flash or expensive I don't think. Mine are burning good with just muscle compression - but a rammer of some kind would likely make for a 'smoother'/more even edged puck.

I just tested a dozen of those apples thru the puck feeder and they loaded fine  ;D  Yay! Progress.

I am going to test the other 1/2kg of my apple sawdust (which I think looks more like mulch really...??) with gelatine instead of agar. I am wondering if the gelatine sets harder now.

I'd still prefer to use a finer sawdust in the long run though. I might try putting some apple-mulch thru my blender and seeing what the difference ends up being, for the effort invloved...

I bit more tweaking and I reckon I may be off and running!? lol...

[Habanero Smoker]

Are you going to run a test to see what type of self life they have? Or are you going to be making a few at a time; when you need them. I'm thinking it would be a lot of work to make 100 pucks, only to find that the binder breaks down after a week or so; or they are very susceptible to moisture and will swell.

[Foodie]

Easier and quicker to dry them in the oven....I set to 80oC and put the fan on - crocked the door open with a spoon and they were done pretty quick. Won't bother with my dehydrator again.

I also ended up chilling them in the fridge for 15mins or so first - to set the binder. They were taking up too much space in my kitchen (which has acreage bench space even ;)) - and - air drying a bit "soft" I thought. They are much harder now they are finished.

I loathe jelly - so have never made it. Does it actually "set" - in warm room temp - if it's not put in the fridge?

I am still not quite happy with the binder ratio for the Agar (so don't take my word for it yet) ...maybe it's a combination of the coarser wood and lack of heavy compression - but the BS tabs are much harder to snap in half (and my sheoak + gelatine ones are stronger too...the sheoak also a finer dust)

I am still saving heaps even if I used 3 packs of agar though.

Anyway - I have a few things to try now I have a better understanding of the puck size, the binder and the coarseness of the sawdust used...I will post something more definite later when I have tried all the variables...

They are the 3 important things though, I feel now.

It took me 4 containers to find the right diameter size BTW (had to take a puck into the Stupor-market and keep matching it to different cans etc...hmnnn)

The next mission:  I am going to try red wine instead of water in the recipe!!? Lol...or maybe a little JD....yum!? I wonder what ouzo would be like? And then herbs and pepper etc...may come up with my very own "special blend"..?  ;)

Best cooking fun I have had in ages.....although I think I am more addicted to the smell of some of the woods burning than anything...??  Must be a primordial thing ;)

[Foodie]

Dunno Haberano....my BS pack has been sitting open, out on the deck, since Xmas no problems.....but I live in a semi-arid zone...so it's very dry here.

I'd probably lump them into an airtight plastic food storage container - with some of that silica that goes pink when moist...? U could just zap them in the oven again if they got moist maybe..?

Don't have those problems here...more likely a wood eating pantry weevil will try to get to them...grr.

(in the last pics u can see how my puck is burnt/ashing more on one side? That's the wind blowing into the puck feeder...It's in the most sheltered spot I have - but it blows it's guts out here over summer....40oC + straight off the desert and like a furnace...)