Cleaning Smoke Generator

[Mr Walleye]

You're right on the money Iceman!

I was real happy with the difference on this weekend smokes.

;D  ;D  ;D
Mike

[thrdrock]

Hey Smoke4, I too am a new OBS owner, and noticed the very same thing you did from the very first use when I seasoned mine. I thought the bumps on the burner plate were causing resistance to the advancing pucks, so like some of the other folks, I filed the bumps down and polished the surface with emery cloth. Made a big difference. When I get the time I am going to take the Dremel and really buff it up good. Also, the Bubba Pucks really help too, kind of act like a metal scaper to push the gunk off. The very best trick I have found is to contact Sausagemaker.com and buy a couple of bottles of their smokehouse cleaner. Stuff is fantastic. Spray it on your drip tray and racks, and the stuff just runs off...I use it on the smoke generator to clean the feed tray (with the help of one of those green scrubber pads) and the face of the generator that goes against the box (for some reason I get a lot of smoke residue there too), cleans up the residue on the Bubba Pucks too. Stuff is kinda expensive ($12 a bottle I think), but well worth it.

[Malc]

The very best trick I have found is to contact Sausagemaker.com and buy a couple of bottles of their smokehouse cleaner. Stuff is fantastic. Spray it on your drip tray and racks, and the stuff just runs off...I use it on the smoke generator to clean the feed tray (with the help of one of those green scrubber pads) and the face of the generator that goes against the box (for some reason I get a lot of smoke residue there too), cleans up the residue on the Bubba Pucks too. Stuff is kinda expensive ($12 a bottle I think), but well worth it.

That does sound worth it.  I really hate cleaning the drip pan.

[West Coast Kansan]

A lot of smoke residue on the face of the generator may mean you should run with your vent open more.  No smoke at the opening between the tower and generator  = an acceptable vent setting. 

Your generator does not like smoke inside. ;)

Take Care,

[thrdrock]

West Coast,
In reference to the vent setting, I have used the vent pretty well open. One thing I did notice is that my generator does not fit perfectly flush with the side of the cabinet, and there is more of a gap at the back than at the front. I just started cold smoking a batch of cheese, and noticed that there was smoke coming out of the gap between the generator and the cabinet, and am pretty sure this is where the residue on the face of the generator is coming from. Also noticed that there is quite a bit of residue on the cabinet, below the hole where the puck burner fits in. How tight is that thing supposed to be? Is there any way to plug the gap, maybe some sort of high temp gasket material, etc.?

[West Coast Kansan]

Hello TRock. They dont fit perfect, and probably need some spacing. They just hang off the posts and that is that  ;D not much more to be done.
The SG serves as an inlet for the air to flow through the smoker.  I too have some smoke residue on the face of my tower - above the hole mostly. I just wanted to react to the "lot" comment cuz it got my attention. I dont know how much that is compared to my "some" (trouble with email type postings :) ) anyway when your vent is opened good, you should not have smoke backing out once the unit starts to draft a bit and the air flow normalizes.

I dont think trying to seal the gap between the units would be good. The only place to draw from would then be the slots on the SG.  I just use that gap as a double check on my vent setting.  With a cold smoke you vent is wide open to let the heat out so hoping the smoke backing out is just a warm up time to get enough heat from the puck burner into the tower to start the draft effect.  :) Have a good one!

[Habanero Smoker]

I agree that you should not try to seal any gaps between the generator and the cabinet, but the generator should align evenly and closely to the cabinet. I would check to make sure that you have the generator mounted correctly on both posts. On more then one occasion I have not correctly mounted the generator on both post, and sometimes it is hard to tell if they are on both posts or not.

If you do have it mounted on both posts correctly, then I believe you can adjust the alignment of the post. Or at least I think I recall a member doing so, but I'm not sure on this.

[Wildcat]

I agree that you should not try to seal any gaps between the generator and the cabinet, but the generator should align evenly and closely to the cabinet. I would check to make sure that you have the generator mounted correctly on both posts. On more then one occasion I have not correctly mounted the generator on both post, and sometimes it is hard to tell if they are on both posts or not.

If you do have it mounted on both posts correctly, then I believe you can adjust the alignment of the post. Or at least I think I recall a member doing so, but I'm not sure on this.

Same here - the first time I did not mount it properly, I thought my unit was defective.  Once, I had initially mounted it properly, then while moving the BS slightly, I had managed to somehow got one post off a little.  Always double check this piece before useing. ;)

[iceman]

Proper mount, Initial mount, Correct alignment, I just KNOW Chez is lurking out there ready to pounce on this one. ::) :D
Anyhow the generator does hang loose on the studs and that's the way it is supposed to be. Like others have stated, if the vent is adjusted right, there won't be smoke coming out of the gap. Something to do with atmospheric pressure verse's thermally induced heat rise causing negative flow for proper combustion by product flow over cosumable protien ladden substances manually introduced into the chamber.
In short it just sort of blows smoke, not much different than most bosses. :D ;D :)

[Mr Walleye]

In short it just sort of blows smoke, not much different than most bosses. :D ;D :)

Hey Iceman... I resemble that comment!  ;D

[West Coast Kansan]

 ???
Huh, a man that makes sauce like that has gotta know what he is talking about, just not sure what it means :D ;)