outdoor boiler

[clemsonfor]

Wood smoke is not is not harmful, well unless you huffing pure smoke or got a tube of it flowing direcly into your house. Some may think it stinks but i like the smell.

There is a lot of scientific research that says otherwise.

In many parts of the world, where heating is from an indoor fire, air inside is more polluted than air outside, and there is serious reduction of life spans.

Anything into your lungs but air is harmful, who do you know has been proven to have died from wood smoke? I beleive that most neighbors homes have far less PPM of smoke than the huts you see in third world countries that cook on an open fire in a pit in the middle of the hut, with a hole in the top for smoke.

Also in third world countries they may never see a doctor till there over 20 years old as well.

I should have rephrased what i originally said to begin with. If your cooking in your home with a hole in the roof yes you will hurt yourself in the longrun, if your standing around your camfire downwind of it huffing the smoke everybreath yes. If the guy next door has a boiler beside his house smoking a little and it drifts the 150 feet or more to your house it will be so diluted as you will just smell it not harm you. NOw if you can see smoke hanging in your home from it, yes i beleive you have a real problem. I also smell my neighbors chickens every so often dont like it but its their property. Im sure its not harming me any, but if i lived in the chicken coop smelling it more concentrated i think it would be a health concern.

 

[dmccarty]

We looked at OWBers years ago but it did not make money sense for us to have one. One of my concerns was the smoke hitting my neighbors. We are on a hill and depending on the weather we could really smoke out the neighbors if we had a OWB that worked like the ones I had seen in our area.

On area I drive through has 3-4 OWBs and a few miles north there are a couple more. On winter mornings these things really smoke up and can lay some smoke down on the ground. Sometimes it is as thick as a bad fog. Farther up the road is near a lake and the OWBs can cover parts of the lake with smoke if the weather is right. Not good.

Just across the lake though is another new OWB. Well the guy built a small single car sized barn around the OWB so I guess it is now a IWB. I have never seen it smoke badly at all. The OWBs I see before the IWB can really be smoking but the IWB is usually barely noticable. If I was not interested in OWBs I would not even notice he had one. Most days you only see heat shimmer and maybe a whiff of smoke from his chimney.

My guess is that he has a better OWB. It certainly is newer than the other ones on that road. This OWB has gotten me thinking about buying one if we ever add on to our house.

Later,
Dan

 

[SpringHollow]

You only know where the bad wood boilers are. There are some that if you lived in the city and your neighbor could not see the boiler nor see you putting wood in it, they would not know you had one.

Ken

 

[tulenutn2o]

Wood smoke is not is not harmful, well unless you huffing pure smoke or got a tube of it flowing direcly into your house. Some may think it stinks but i like the smell.

There is a lot of scientific research that says otherwise.

In many parts of the world, where heating is from an indoor fire, air inside is more polluted than air outside, and there is serious reduction of life spans.

What isn't harmful? Just being human is harmful in itself.

 

[tulenutn2o]

I have read that too. I think it is especially true where people cook indoors over an open wood or charcoal fire. This is not uncommon in rural areas of developing countries.

I don't know why it is difficult to believe wood smoke is harmful. Grilling over wood deposits carcinogens on your steak What happens when you inhale wood smoke? You cough, your body knows it needs to clear it out of your lungs. I thought this was common sense.
Dave.

Yeah, but I refuse to give up my grilled/smoked meats. And I like to stay warm. Got a loin in the smoker as we speak.:licking:

 

[dave1949]

Yeah, but I refuse to give up my grilled/smoked meats. And I like to stay warm. Got a loin in the smoker as we speak.:licking:

I fire up the grill once in a while too, it's just a reality. So, you have a pork loin in the smoker? Sounds good.

One way I've had pork loin that is pretty good, is to split it lengthwise, but don't cut all the way through. Then open up the halves and put chopped onion, crushed garlic, salt and pepper in. Then tie it back closed like a rolled roast. Grill it long enough to char the outside, then finish it in foil so it doesn't dry out.

Another good grilled pork recipe is German Schwenkbraten. Schwenk means 'swing' and this is usually done on a tripod with a hanging grill that can swing above the wood fire. This automatically eliminates hot spot and flare up problems. It's a great way to grill half chickens too.

There are variations, this is the Hunsrucker style:

Slice pork butts into 1" thick steaks.
(pork butt is the saddle of meat around the neck)
Try not to have to much fatty parts, but some fat/marbling is needed.
Rub the slices with cooking oil lightly, put inside a plastic storage bag.
Add chopped onion, chopped garlic, salt, pepper and a healthy pinch of nutmeg for each slice to the bag.
Work that all into the meat by massaging the bag.
Let it marinate overnight in the fridge.
Grill until done, or the pork has just stopped 'sweating' out fat.

You can't identify the nutmeg flavor after grilling, but it's there.

Happy grilling!
Dave.

 

[tulenutn2o]

I fire up the grill once in a while too, it's just a reality. So, you have a pork loin in the smoker? Sounds good.

One way I've had pork loin that is pretty good, is to split it lengthwise, but don't cut all the way through. Then open up the halves and put chopped onion, crushed garlic, salt and pepper in. Then tie it back closed like a rolled roast. Grill it long enough to char the outside, then finish it in foil so it doesn't dry out.

Another good grilled pork recipe is German Schwenkbraten. Schwenk means 'swing' and this is usually done on a tripod with a hanging grill that can swing above the wood fire. This automatically eliminates hot spot and flare up problems. It's a great way to grill half chickens too.

There are variations, this is the Hunsrucker style:

Slice pork butts into 1" thick steaks.
(pork butt is the saddle of meat around the neck)
Try not to have to much fatty parts, but some fat/marbling is needed.
Rub the slices with cooking oil lightly, put inside a plastic storage bag.
Add chopped onion, chopped garlic, salt, pepper and a healthy pinch of nutmeg for each slice to the bag.
Work that all into the meat by massaging the bag.
Let it marinate overnight in the fridge.
Grill until done, or the pork has just stopped 'sweating' out fat.

You can't identify the nutmeg flavor after grilling, but it's there.

Happy grilling!
Dave.

That sounds good too! I love to eat and cook, but mostly eat>:laughing: Last week was turkey legs,this week pork loin, next week........... maybe brisket.

 

[scesnick]

I can not agree with the coal burner comment. I lived in a house with a coal burner all my life. The allergies, the coal dust, the sulpher smell, I do not miss any of it. Honestly, there is no way a coal unit is cleaner then a wood unit. Unfortanately were I grew up they are predominate due to it being a mining are. Nothing like smelling sulpher on your block from all the coal burners going.

I had an outdoor wood boiler ( for 2 yrs) and it sucked bigtime. It burned so much wood it wasn't funny. Not to mention freezing to death while tending to it every 6-8 hours.
I sold it thankfully, then I put in a coal/wood boiler inside my nice warm detached garage.
I burn 95% coal 5% wood. ( 16-20 hours burn time) if you have a sulfer smell the coal you were burning was of very poor quality. I can guarantee you if you visited my farm you would never know I burn coal.
they are dirty as keeping things around the boiler clean but that is why I put it out in my pole garage. But hey, I heat my whole house and garage on top of a very cold and windy mountain for around $500 a year with no smoke at all.

 

[SpringHollow]

Something must have been wrong with the design or installation of that wood boiler. A good outdoor boiler does not use much more wood and can have very long burn times.

Ken

 

[tulenutn2o]

I think what people don't realize about Outdoor boilers is that they are operated 24-7. It's not like you can just let the fire go out cause you don't feel like loading. Consequences being that your backup heating system then has to keep water warm for the outside boiler, or freeze up. I've heated for years with wood stoves and was contemplating an outdoor unit. Goin back and forth between air and water. Also trying to decide if a smaller unit would be better with storage capacity inside house so unit could be fired hard and thus burn cleaner. My main reason for even considering outdoor units is: mess inside, insurance. I don't store wood inside except for what I am burning that day, so I go out quite often. Heck,I'm outdoors more in winter than in the sweltering heat of summer. Any others out there with outdoor boiler/heater experience?