PID Controlled Bradley Smoker Clone

February 11, 2011 by Mike Nathan 21 Comments

Bradley smokers are coveted for their ease of use, as they require very little interaction from the user once the hopper is loaded with wood pucks and the machine is powered on. The more robust models are quite pricey, so [Maukka] decided to build his own version of a Bradley smoker as an add on to his existing unit. He fabricated a smoke generator out of aluminum, including all of the components you would normally find in an automated smoker. Once the hopper is loaded with wood pucks, the smoker runs autonomously, shuffling new pucks onto the heating element, presumably at timed intervals. The main barrel of the smoker has a separate PIC-controlled heating element installed, and is connected to the smoke generator by an aluminum duct. This configuration allows [Maukka] to cold smoke items such as fish, nuts, and cheeses using the smoke generator by itself, while also permitting the smoking of meats at far higher temperatures when the main heating element is used. This is truly a fantastic build, and the cold smoker component is something I would love to have as an addition to my Weber bullet.

Be sure to explore his blog a bit to catch all of the build details, as they are separated into various posts.

[Thanks Hali Batsuiba]

Refurbishing A Refrigerator For Fermenting

January 25, 2011 by Caleb Kraft 12 Comments

[Mikey Sklar] wrote in to show us how he refurbished a neighbors useless refrigerator as a fermentation chamber. [Mikey] is a fan of making breads, kemchi, yogurt, and tempeh. To make these, it helps to have a completely controlled temperature for them to ferment in. [Mikey] developed a temp controller for this in the past, but had to either build a control box or use a giant chest freezer. This is not optimal for limited space, such as a kitchen. He got lucky when a neighbor tossed a wine cooler into the trash. These little coolers are perfectly sized for a kitchen and even have a glass front so you can keep an eye on what is going on inside without having to open it and effect your temps. [Mikey] ripped it open, replaced the peltier cooler with a large heat lamp and his temp controller. Since he was making yogurt with this one, he needed only to heat it. The final product turned out pretty effective.

Aluminum Can Backpacking Stove

February 16, 2005 by Jason Striegel 21 Comments

pop can stove

i spent the weekend trying to come up with a design for a cheap, portable espresso machine. what i ended up with was a caulk gun actuated pvc tube contraption. you can read all about it over at engadget. several users have written that pvc is not approved for hot water use and may be dangerous, so i’d recommend checking out cpvc (or something completely different and more eco-friendly). there’s room for improvement, so beat me to the punch. come up with a better diy espresso machine and send it in. i’ll make sure to post it and you’ll make caffeinated hikers everywhere happy.

so, on the topic of hikers and diy portable gagetry, i just recieved a great link that i had to move to the front of the queue. scott henderson wrote a great howto on making a nifty little backpacking stove out of a chimeric combination of pepsi and guiness cans. it’s a simple, elegant design that really makes you think about how you can use every day items in creative ways.

these are my favorite kinds of hacks, bar none. everybody thank bruce for sending this our way, and make sure to send in your favorite hacks.

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