Homemade "pucks"/smoker tablets

Foodie · January 04, 2012, 11:51:52 PM

Depends on how much you pay for the sawdust I guess...? The rest is cheap as chips...

The can of cat food cost 80 cents (and the dog ate the contents.. ;)) you only need one and it's re-usable.
The gelatine cost under $2 for the container (goes a long way - 100grm container makes up 2.8L)
The Agar cost me $1.56/25grm and goes even further (eg: the one 25gm pack goes into 3L water) Asian grocers carry this much cheaper than health food stores.
The rice flour is pretty cheap here (a pack I already had)

My sawdust cost $8/half kilo though :( (just purchased from a camping shop - so haven't shopped around for a better deal as yet - but I know I could get it cheaper if I cut out the middle man) (2.2 lb = 1kg)

I am just testing the 3 binders today - to see if they affect the smoke much - so I have used quite a bit of binder. * Once I work out which one I like then I will play around with the binder concentration, and post *
Will also see how much it costs/60 pucks.

The Agar-Agar has the strongest holding power (at the same application rate) at present.....(the pucks have only been in the dryer 10mins and this one is almost ready to go already - the gelatine one still soft and the rice flour one in-between - but heaps better than the gelatine)

I mixed the dry binder in the sawdust - added some boiling water until it was all moist (not wet) then nuked the mix in the microwave to "cook", chucked them in the freezer for 10mins and they are drying now.

I am favouring the agar so far...no smell like gelatine and much stickier. As it's from seaweed (and this is good to use in smokers too) then I am guessing it will be ok flavour wise too.

Would love to know what BS use as a binder...? ;)

I will still be buying BS pucks though - as I love the Alder and cherry - can't get that sawdust here.

Habanero Smoker · January 05, 2012, 01:45:35 AM

Looks interesting I may try this to obtain different flavors. Bradley uses .02% collagen hydrolise (gelatin).

pensrock · January 05, 2012, 02:06:51 AM

The nice thing about this for me is, making pucks from woods Bradley does not provide. sasafras, peach, grape vine etc.
Right now to do these 'other' woods I put chips right on the puck burner or use a different smoke generator.

Foodie · January 05, 2012, 02:59:37 AM

Wow - how do u know that Haberano? That's interesting info....so we are not far off the mark then.

I am an ex-scientist - so I love doing "experiments" lol....just can't help myself - now I am a 'bored housewife', lol...

TedEbear · January 05, 2012, 04:41:10 AM

Quote from: Foodie on January 04, 2012, 11:51:52 PM
Depends on how much you pay for the sawdust I guess...? The rest is cheap as chips...

The can of cat food cost 80 cents (and the dog ate the contents.. ;)) you only need one and it's re-usable.
The gelatine cost under $2 for the container (goes a long way - 100grm container makes up 2.8L)
The Agar cost me $1.56/25grm and goes even further (eg: the one 25gm pack goes into 3L water) Asian grocers carry this much cheaper than health food stores.
The rice flour is pretty cheap here (a pack I already had)

My sawdust cost $8/half kilo though :( (just purchased from a camping shop - so haven't shopped around for a better deal as yet - but I know I could get it cheaper if I cut out the middle man) (2.2 lb = 1kg)

Yes it would. So, how much does all of that come out to per puck?

Foodie · January 05, 2012, 08:23:35 AM

Phew Ted bear - not that technical yet - only got my smoker on this Xmas day after all...?
how much can u get your sawdust and ingredients for?
IE: My sawdust is AU $20/kg at present - the 60 puck pack is Au $54 and weighs around 1.25 kgs. U do the math...?
What country are u in? (please don't say US - the conversion backwards from metric kills me!? U will have do that bit yourself - the price u pay for not going metric maybe?? ;) (just teasing!)

But - I would not even try to translate between our countries I don't think. What drove me here was the riduculous price of the pucks in Aust. And there are other non-US members here - going thru the same issue.

Given our recent exchange rates - I should be able to get them cheaper than in the US in fact - or at least at parity. Whatever - this is how BS and the suppliers make their $ - don't blame them there.

Although I need to save a dollar here - I am also with manxman - it's about the possible flavours u can make yourself ...(I am not 'Foodie' for nothing!?)

viper125 · January 05, 2012, 09:42:43 AM

I believe they do use a type of gelatin so that should be fine. About the size It can't get to big but i'll bet and 1/8 to 1/4 would work. Just a slong as it didn't push to far to the side. If you don't mind I'd like to know the mixture quantity you used. I could start trying here also. If we could get this to work we not only could save money we would have unlimited access to woods that are not available now.

Habanero Smoker · January 05, 2012, 12:56:45 PM

Quote from: Foodie on January 05, 2012, 02:59:37 AM
Wow - how do u know that Haberano? That's interesting info....so we are not far off the mark then.

I am an ex-scientist - so I love doing "experiments" lol....just can't help myself - now I am a 'bored housewife', lol...

In the States they also have to label the ingredients on the box. It's in really small print, and you have to look hard, but it is there:

Contains 99-98% selected hardwood .02% Collagen Hydrolise (binder)

Some boxes add:
(no calories are added to the food through the process of smoking).

Quarlow · January 05, 2012, 03:14:47 PM

You could try putting a small amount of the binder on the burner to see if you like how it smells. What are you pressing them with? If you are using a press do you have a pressure gauge on it so you get the same press? It would be nice to have a press plate that is the right size with another plate that fits into it but leaves the right thickness. Then you could just fill it with your mix, scrap it smooth set the top plate on and the press it. I wish my dad's old lathe was working, I could machine one out for you. Of course we have a few folks here with CNC machines (I am jealous) that could knock something like that out. Of course cost would be a factor. What is the burn time of your pucks?

Foodie · January 05, 2012, 08:44:22 PM

Hi Quarlow - have a look at the pics on the other page - they burn exactly the same (ie- they char but don't ash) edit: that's after I fished them out of the bowl of water too.

I just use the top of the can to pack them down with my hand (very technical..!) - that's all they need. It's so easy to just slip the can off, grab the lid and go to the next one.

Hey that's good lateral thinking to put the mix straight on the burner! Especially as I just knocked the agar one into the water by accident ::) duhh.

I thought the gelatin stunk of horses toe jam when I made it up - but the agar is totally odourless.

Will let you know when I have worked out the binder ratio viper (school holidays here so there is no rest for the wicked... ;))

Ok - just tested all 3 Quarlow - the rice flour smelt a bit like burnt toast, the gelatin was acrid and the agar was great - a slightly sweet smell (to me) so it's onwards and forwards with agar for me :)

Sailor · January 06, 2012, 12:44:38 PM

Nice looking pucks you made. Looks like the burn is just about right on the pucks. Please do keep us updated on the project.

viper125 · January 06, 2012, 01:15:52 PM

Telling a buddy and he offered me free sawdust as much as I want of any hard wood. He owns a saw mill. Asked if I would take by the bucket or pickup truck load, LOL

Quarlow · January 06, 2012, 05:10:33 PM

All very interesting. Glad I could help steer you in the right direction.

Foodie · January 06, 2012, 07:47:11 PM

OK - here's what I have so far:

1/2 kg sawdust (Apple this time)
1.5 Litres boiling water
25 grm (0.9oz) Agar Agar

Mix Agar Agar into the sawdust. Add the boiling water and mix well. Zap in the microwave for 5mins (approx)
Press out pucks (allow to cool a little first!)
Mix the mixture every now and then when making pucks as the water settles to the bottom.

What I got:
60 pucks
Sore fingers!

It took about 40mins to press out the pucks (not rushing)

They are the same size as the ones I made on the previous page (so a little smaller than the BS ones) I am happy with the burn test though (will post pics separately below)

I ended up adding 10grm more Agar. Although this mix above works - I found the extra agar a bit better in the final product (and I didn't want too many 'bits' falling off in the puck feeder?) It's so cheap that I may just stick 2x 25grm packs in next time, and just be done with it.

I noticed that the BS pucks contain sawdust that is quite uniform in shape and size between the different flavours - whereas the smoker sawdust brand I am buying can vary, not so much in size, but the shape of the 'dust'..? (just something to be aware of) (eg: the sheoak is fine and the apple coarser)

I am impressed BS get away with just .02% gelatine (they must be using uber-strength stuff :o)

My fingers are a bit sore - so I am thinking of getting a steel fabricator to make me up the ring and a heavy "stamper" type fitting - so I can just ram them down instead of pressing with my finger tips.

You could add the agar to the boiling water to pre-dissolve - then to sawdust....(I was just saving on mess)

They will air dry it seems - as I left my left over mixes out yesterday (rice flour, gelatine and agar) and they were dry and solid this morning (and stuck to the bowls)

Until the binder sets they are very fragile - so I pressed mine out onto baking trays lined with wax paper and have just left them to air dry. I guess I could chill them to speed up the binder setting.

They will only take about an hour or 2 in my dehydrator (@60 oC) to dry though - but I don't want to move mine now in case they break apart (as I haven't bothered to chill them). Will see how air drying goes (it's summer here so quite dry) otherwise a very low fan-forced oven (with the door slightly open) would be ok too.

They do need to come out of the mould - if they dry in a mould I reckon they would stick to it and be impossible to get out whole..?

Not sure how much gelatine you would use here (instead of Agar) but I'd probably start at 50grms for this recipe - push a couple through the freezer and then the oven, and see how well they set for you :)

Foodie · January 06, 2012, 08:06:48 PM

Here is the apple puck (made as above) at 20 mins:
(only a small amount in centre unburnt - but maybe it wasn't quite dry)

Here is the other side of the same puck:
(sorry about the focus!)

As this sawdust a bit coarser - I could probably have made them slightly thicker (mine weigh 11grms and the BS ones about 20grms)