@rhjbarney My smoker is similar, I converted it to Natural Gas as our Electric is very expensive and gas is cheap.
Dave

@Holden-Nyhus You might want to add a convection fan to your smoker to mix and circulate the air to provide a more constant temp throughout the space, I added a convection oven fan in the top of my smoker and it seems to help keep a more constant temperature.

I agree on the Masterbuilt 30 or 40. I if you can afford it I would go with the 40 with the larger capacity . I personally use a A-MAZE-N 12 " smoker tube in the smoker instead of chip dropper it comes with as one tube of pellets gives off 4 hours of uninterrupted smoke.

Dave

@lamurscrappy wo

would love some pictures and information on your steam generator…
Thanks
Dave

@lamurscrappy What kind of smoker do you have and what are you doing to reaching 90-95% humidity in a home smoker

I have been using the A-MAZE-N 12 in. Smoker Tube for about 2 years in three different smokers I have and have found that using it with wood pellets is a much easier and better way than traditional wood chips for smoking. Take a look at it and give it a try.

Dave

@smokinbubba , When I do the water bath, I just put finished cooked sticks in a tub and cover with cold water for a few minutes or it we have fresh snow throw them out in the snow is that what you are doing? What is the purpose of the Bloom and at what temperature?

If I can reach 50% Humidity how much do you think it will decrease the cooking time, it now takes me 10-12 hours to get my product finished in the larger casings.

Jonathan in one of your post you mentioned 2 methods or raising the humidity with the wick/sponge effect and was wondering how they introduce steam in a commercial operation and does anyone have any other ideas what we can do it in our home smokers. I installed a water pan on my home smoke and I am afraid to put a sponge or mop head in it to increase the evaporation as if the pan drys out they may catch fire. 10-12 hours is a long wait for the larger sausages to reach 156 Degrees

I just last week made 2 batches of ring bologna and our favorite was 20/80, 20# lean caribou and 5 # beef fat. I am doing more research on how to emulsify with out a chopper looking at the Champion Juicer but not sure how long it takes to do 25 lb batch. What I made I ground the meat first 3/8 then ground the fat 1/8 then mixed two together and then ground both twice 1/8 and then added all spice, binder and cure and mixed well by hand… Looks great but not quite like hot dogs or bologna. Don’t think you would ever tell the difference by taste.