Cold Smoking in the Tropics - Condensation

Question

I am determined to find a way to cold smoke in the tropics. The obvious problems we face here are a high outside air temperature (avg. 35° C) and high humidity (at times 85%) In order to get around this I have had the idea to channel the smoke through a functioning freezer which I redesigned with copper tubing on the inner walls to cool the chamber.

This will lead to a large amount of condensation collecting within the chamber, effectively dehumidifying the air.

My question is: Will this condensation collect on the meat or will it only collect on the copper pipes and walls of the inner chamber?

Answer 1

Condensation occurs when the temperature of humid air drops below its "dew point". In other words, at ambient temperature (35° C), the amount of water in the air is 85% of what the air can hold. But the air near the copper will be quite a bit cooler, enough to make that, enough to rise the relative humidity to 100%.

So with that rough sketch in mind, back to your meat. While the condensation is collection on your copper because the copper is cool, your meat should be warm throughout the duration of the smoke--about the same temperature as the air in fact--which would not cause the humid air to condense on it.