New smoker build questions

[Carp Commander]

Sounds like Blacktail Sniper and I are working on a similar project. I was giving an upright fridge by a friend after it quit working. I took all the wiring, motors and trim out of it. It is gutted down to the interior metal lining. I planned on lining it with cedar. Sounds like I should strip it down further and take out the lining and insulation. Is this necessary if i am already planning on covering the inside with cedar?

Any suggestions on placement of the air inteke and thermometer?

I was thinking about a charcoal/wood burning pan in the bottom. I didn't want to rely upon LP gas.

Thanks

[billythekidrock]

i wouldnt use that, i have used it, and its a very big VERY HOT and grossly inefficient on fuel, just way overkill. you will have a VERY hard time smoking most stuff which is around 90-130 degrees, that will push 500 + easily and fast, on low i fought to get under 200.

i have a much better idea for you $30, and its got 3 separate burners for different heat ranges not just high to low  its in the smoker budget build thread.

I agree. I have used the crab cooker type burners for years and it is a pain to stay on top of the temp fluctuations. I primarily us it in the fall and can very seldom use it in the summer due to the warmer temps and I have burned up a couple of pans.

A few months ago I bought the same one pictured from Northern Tool and hope to use it soon. In my tests it is a lot easier to regulate the flame. The only issue I had was the foam packing that got lodged in the line from shipping. I was aware that this could be a problem from reading online reviews and was able to clear them easy enough.

[Carp Commander]

Finally down to metal again. Any suggestions on how to get the remaining film of the metal? I was thinking aceton and a brush.

[Carp Commander]

I was surprised at how much insulation there is.

[Kc_Kracker]

very nice  NOW you got something that wont smell like melted foam when you smoke  what kind of heat source you going to use

[Carp Commander]

The rebuild is finally done.

I haven't made a decision on the heat source yet.

[Blacklab]

Very nice!
Looks like it could hold a pound or two 

[dogtuk]

I would line the floor with some sheet metal and use an oven element and thermostat for heat should heat it up nice looking smoker

[Hangfire]

A lot of the old time smoke houses used cold smoke. The smoke house sets up the hill and the fire and smoke source is down hill as much as 50 feet. The smoke travels to the smoke house by a metal stove pipe. It enters the bottom of the smoke house. I am assuming there is some type of vent at the top to get a flow going. The stove pipe is often buried underground to cool. The brine with salt curies the meat. The indian smoke salmon I had that was cold smoked was the best I ever ate. It takes several days to two weeks  to smoke. I was told the smoking done by the Little chief or similar units is actually kippered meat. I was told by several old timers about the cold smoking method when I lived in the Shelton area. My granddad told me that is how they used to smoke hams in the south.

[HUNTINCOUPLE]

Looks real good! Get that bad boy seasoned up!!!

[Carp Commander]

Racks are in and it had it's first smoke pouring out of it last night. Hoping to running a batch of hickory through it every night this week followed by chicken and ribs this weekend!

[Hangfire]

That is about as nice of looking refer converted to smoker I have ever seen.  Report on how it works, after running some meat through it.

[Kc_Kracker]

if your doing a low temp smoke like sausage or fish great, if youll have poultry or fire, then the cedar might be an issue  looks good 

[Kc_Kracker]

I haven't made a decision on the heat source yet.

with wood lining you cannot go fire, your food will taste sour of cedar and will catch fire. if you want the cedar for low temp make the walls removable  cedar is generally used for COLD smoking, meaning smoke only no heat.

[swinters]

I built one pretty close to this for a friend up in Alaska and it works great, though used some old fence boards.  I built an external firebox and plumbed it so the chimney of the firebox went into the bottom rear of the smoker and had the chimney of the smoker at the top center towards the front.  His patio had a 2 foot wall and a hill behind it so the firebox is at patio level and the smoker is at the level of the top of the patio wall.  Uses an electric hot plate with a Chinese piece of junk cast iron frying pan for the wood chips.  I also ended up drilling a hole at the top center and putting in hooks anchored to an external bar so we could hang large slabs of meat.  Used part of an old water tank from a well for the firebox and set it in concrete blocks, then surrounded it with sand to hold heat.  Made a latch that was basically a hook on the outside that turned on a shaft that went thru and had a handle on the inside so that it was legal.  Fridges and freezers not in use are generally required by law to have the door removed unless there is an internal latch release and we didn't want the risk or liability of not having one.  I'll send my friend a note and see if I can get some pictures.