Cooking & Baking

flamin lib

(14,559 posts) Wed Jul 10, 2013, 06:12 PM Jul 2013

Hey, Major Nikon and others with electric smokers similar to the SmokinTex.

Ya' can't make jerky in these things UNLESS you have some way to move air through the thing. The thing that keeps BBQ moist is the high humidity maintained at low temps in electric smokers. That's the same thing that makes jerky impossible to dry in one.

SmokinTex sells a fan that sits over the 1" exhaust outlet on top of the smoker for $100 plus tax here in TX and shipping. Feh! Buy the cheapest 12v dc fan you can find, cut a hole in a can large enough to hold the fan and glue the fan onto the can. Fan size doesn't make much difference; the volume inside the box is about 5 cubic feet and the smallest fan I could find circulated 33 CFM. Circulation is limited by the tiny drip hole in the bottom of the smoker.

My "dryer fan" cost $20. Could have done it for $5 but wasn't able to get to the surplus electrinics store.

Use a 12V power supply or a battery pack to power it up. Most of us have phone chargers or other ac-dc converters lying around.

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Hey, Major Nikon and others with electric smokers similar to the SmokinTex. (Original Post) flamin lib Jul 2013 OP

I already have one of those fans and I'm a jerky making fool if there ever was one Major Nikon Jul 2013 #1

Major Nikon

(36,827 posts)

1. I already have one of those fans and I'm a jerky making fool if there ever was one

Reply to flamin lib (Original post)

Wed Jul 10, 2013, 06:19 PM

Jul 2013

I thought about making one of my own, but the fan that they sell really isn't a bad deal. It's well made, works great, and has a filter that keeps the fan from clogging up and failing.

Some people make jerky by just leaving the door ajar. I'm sure this would work fine as that's the way I used to do it in my oven. The fan just creates a more uniform flow of air and dries everything out more evenly.

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