Build idea - smoked grain for whiskey

Deerhammer · Joined: 10 Dec 2015 Posts: 3

Hey guys,

Looking for some input from those with experience. I'm new to the forum and new to building/operating any sort of smoker. I own a whiskey distillery. We mainly make single malt whiskey, but we're about to fire up production for a colorado bourbon. Aside from using all colorado grains (corn/wheat/oats/barley), we're looking to smoke some the rolled oats to add another flavor complexity to the whiskey.

To accomplish this, I've been looking at building a smoker that could easily hold 200# of oats that are layered at a depth of .5". Currently leaning towards starting with an enclosed sheet pan rack (like this one: http://www.webstaurantstore.com/images/products/large/7010/498697.jpg ),and piling oats on perforated sheet pans. For the smoke, I've been looking using the SmokeDaddy Pellet Pro Hopper - http://www.smokedaddyinc.com/pellet-hoppers/

Any thoughts on if this setup would yield a sufficient amount of smoke?

Any opinions on possible drawbacks of stacking this cabinet very tightly with grain filled trays (less smoke permeation to the top)?

Any opinions one using the smokedaddy setup vs. any other options on the market that I might not have scene?

Thanks in advance,

-lenny

Smokin Mike · Posted: Dec 10 2015 Post subject:

Would it bring any harm to the oats if you tumbled them slowly in a horizontal mounted perforated cylinder inside the smoke chamber? I would think you would get a more even distribution of smoke to the oats vs. sitting statically in a tray. Think of it in the same context as coffee roasting.

I would think that management of the product would be easier also. Instead of manually futzing around with a bunch of trays you can fill up the cylinder via a port hole and when finished simply pour them out of the cylinder into the next container.
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SoEzzy · Posted: Dec 10 2015 Post subject:

As your probably know, (better than us amateurs), most traditional smokey whiskey is created by heating and drying the barley after it has been soaked and germinated.

The distillers have malting floors and layer them 8" - 12" deep with the barley, the oats are likely to pack tighter into the pans than barley seeds ever do, I wonder if this would make for a problem of lack of smoke penetration.

If I were to throw out ideas, I think a rotary tumbler made of fine stainless steel mesh, hopper fed, with baffles inside the tumbler to slow down the rate at which the oats pass through the tumbler.

By using a tumbler you can hopper / shake in the oats, and hopper / bin / shake out at the other end. You could also cold smoke with a regulated air flow. If you run the oats through and they don't have enough smoke, you could add them back again to the start hopper and run them through again.

If you are intent on hot smoking, look at a gravity feed smoker, add in extra shelf hangers, and give your trays of oats some heat and smoke, Stumps, Spicewine, Backwoods are makers that I'd look at. The only problems I can see is there may be changes to the oats or their flavor, due to the higher heat of hot smoking actually cooking them.

Just my 2 cents.
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Deerhammer · Joined: 10 Dec 2015 Posts: 3

Smokin Mike · Posted: Dec 10 2015 Post subject:

Can you give us some idea of the cubic volume that 200lbs of grain would consume? For example would it fill a 55 gallon drum? Two drums?
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My current cookers: 80 gallon vertical tank
The Ultimate New Braunfels Makeover

Deerhammer · Joined: 10 Dec 2015 Posts: 3

missionsusmc · Posted: Dec 12 2015 Post subject:

It would take a massive cooker to have a 55-gal drum sized tumbler INSIDE of it. Roughly 2 ft diameter X 3ft give or take tall. Attached to a spit/rotisserie motor. I'm sure on paper it's possible. Like the Bear said, fine SS mesh attached to a metal frame the size/dimensions of a 55 gal drum. Would be pretty complicated to fill and empty said tumbler with 200 lbs of grain inside a cooker, however. Would make me lean more towards having an open-air brick/block pit. Build the mesh "barrel" with a door/gate/valve, rig up a slide to catch and divert the grain when emptying, and then roll the door back to the top side to fill it back up. There would be no way to manhandle something that heavy after coming off a pit.
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