Black rain with vent fully open

[Smokeville]

Hi folks;

This has been happening for a while and is most pronounced with hot smoking fish, but happens a bit even when cold smoking. It is definitely dripping from the vent, which is fully open. I've wiped the moisture away, and that helps, but I can't figure out why it condenses in the first place.

Does anyone else have this problem consistently? What I have done to avoid ruining whatever is on the top rack is invert a rack and put something else for the rain to drip on.

Thanks, Rich

Also, this is a consistent problem. As I recall, it even happened last summer when the weather was warmer, so it doesn't seem to be associated with outside cold air.

[lumpy]

Before I do a smoke, I clean the top of the smoker with steel wool. If the session is a long one, half way through I wipe the roof with paper towels.

[OU812]

Bummer.

Do you have some sort of vent system that the condensation could be building up in?

[pensrock]

Must have a lot of moisture in the smoker. How big a load? What temps? Maybe do less product will help remove some of the moisture?

[Smokeville]

Thanks all;

I don't think it's the load, and there is nothing special about venting. My initial thinking was I had a leak in the upper door seal that allowed colder air to enter near the top and condense the warmer air/smoke coming up. I draped something over the door and it didn't help.

I think the cold smoke is what concerned me. The temp never got above 73F in the smoker. Yet there were drips from the vent. It is definitely from the vent as the pattern of drip on the cloth I put under it confirms....

I guess what I'm wondering is if anyone who does fish has the same problem?

Not a problem at high temp like for pork...

Rich

[Quarlow]

Do you keep it outside? If so does it get rained on at all? If that is the case maybe it is getting water inside between the inner and outer wall in the insulation. Then any temp might make it come out. If no to these questions, then I am stumped. I have never had this happen. You could put an extra rack upside down on the top rack and then place a bowl or saucer to catch any drips.

[Indy Smoker]

I've cold smoked fish and leave my smoker outside in a custom cabinet.  Have never had this problem. 
Is the smoke coming out the vent - can you see it coming out, is there something blocking the vent .
How are you performing the cold smoke? What length of piping do you have to cool the smoke prior to going in the chamber - perhaps it is too cold and condensing inside the cabinet causing the liquid to form.  You mention that the cabinet temp never went above 73, have you tried to shorten the length between the cold smoke apparatus and the cabinet to see if thet makes a difference????

[Habanero Smoker]

Is it "Black Rain" or "Black Snow". Check the ceiling of your cabinet to see if the seasoning build up is beginning to flake. If it is, flakes are falling on your food. Crumble up a piece of newspaper and "scrub the inside of the cabinet to remove any flaking.

The other possibility is condensation on top of the smoker building up and dripping back into the cabinet. This happens to me when it is cold out, and warm air from the smoker condenses quickly when it hit the cold air and their is  buildup of moisture on top of the cabinet around the vent. If the top shelf is vacant, I generally will place a small pan on a rack just under the vent opening to catch any drippings.

[Gamefish]

Hi Smokeville

We do alot of fish down here and use to have a similar issue, fish in general holds alot of water and fat content and it is purely a build up of condensation, to get round this problem we just clean the top vent with a hot damp cloth after every use including the walls, not taking off the seasoning but removing the fish fat layer, fish moisture will build on the walls and easily make its way to the top and build up, to get round this, I have found that leaving the fish in the fridge for a few days helps as alot of excess water dries up and we also have alot of humidity here this time of Year which doesn't help, put less fish in the smoker at each time during the warmer months, NZ is really bad this year for humidity so I do alot of my fish at night time which makes a huge difference, I have figured out that it is due to the units being so well insulated that moisture will build very easily as fish sweats alot easier than any other meat product, another way to get around this is smoke your fish at 77C for the first 3 hours then increase the temp for the last 1 or 2 hours at your desired temp, this will seal and dry the fillets and create less moisture and you fish will stay alot more moist and alot less condensation, hot smoking at high temps to start off will only make fish sweat alot faster as fish cooks very quickly, To give you a good example I smoked a 50 kg sea Bass yesterday in 2 lots and after the first 2 hours i opened the smoker and wiped down the walls and top vent because of the condensation build up. :) hope this helps

[Smokeville]

It's definitely a condensation issue, and it is black rain and not snow. I've had the black snow issue before and make sure those stalactites that form are removed.

Today I started a smoke at 11am after drying the fish. I also wiped down the vent area and top of the cabinet. I use Kummok's time schedule so right now (1:25pm) the auber has just jumped the temp up to 140F. There is rain on the cloth I placed on the inverted top rack.

The smoker is in my unheated garage and the temp outside is 55F. During winter it was often below freezing. No difference.

Thanks, everyone, for thinking this through with me.

Rich

[OU812]

Are you useing the stock water pan?

[Smokeville]

Are you useing the stock water pan?

Yup. I assume you mean the regular bowl?

[Gamefish]

It's definitely a condensation issue, and it is black rain and not snow. I've had the black snow issue before and make sure those stalactites that form are removed.

Today I started a smoke at 11am after drying the fish. I also wiped down the vent area and top of the cabinet. I use Kummok's time schedule so right now (1:25pm) the auber has just jumped the temp up to 140F. There is rain on the cloth I placed on the inverted top rack.

The smoker is in my unheated garage and the temp outside is 55F. During winter it was often below freezing. No difference.

Thanks, everyone, for thinking this through with me.

Rich

Hi Rich to things stand out, take the auber off and sit the unit at 77C, secondly cloth on the inverted top rack?, if this is obstructing the air movement condensation will trap easily and will not evapourate
lastly if you are getting stalactites after 2 hours then you have to much heat

here's what fish should look like after 4 hours hope this helps

[Smokeville]

Thanks, Gamefish;

The stalactites are an old issue that only happened after quite a bit of use. And I didn't mention this -- but the fish turns out just marvelously. Since I started putting the cloth on the inverted top rack, I haven't lost any fillets and the fish turns out just as great.

I did 10lb of rainbow trout yesterday. There were 13 fillets so they were on the large size for farmed trout.

Those fish in your photo? Are they salmon or some exotic NZ fish? Or the sea bass you mentioned? Look great!

Rich